1. Who are you and what do you do?
Richard Flounders, Partner and Head of Property Litigation. I deal with Property disputes and connected matters, as well as general Civil and Commercial litigation.
2. Where did you go to school/university?
I attended my local Comprehensive in Hartlepool and studied Law at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, completing my LPC at the University of Northumbria.
3. What brought you back to work in Teesside and Jacksons in particular?
I trained at a Teesside Firm and on qualification moved back to Newcastle, working in a niche field, and specialising in insurance litigation. I was offered the chance to join another local firm in 2016 and that lead me to my current role at Jackson in August 2019.
4. What changes or difficulties have you seen in Teesside during the time you’ve been with Jacksons?
It’s been good to see investment and exciting developments in Teesside over the last few years, including the resurgence of the Airport and positive steps in relation to the old SSI site, the closure of which was a huge blow for the region at the time.
In my hometown in Hartlepool, we’ve seen the election of a Conservative MP in what is a really significant change, and hopefully the town benefits from that.
5. How do you see the future for the region?
Hopefully the future of Teesside is bright and the signs are certainly positive. The relocation of Treasury jobs is a huge vote of confidence for the region and is a real boost. It’s great to see investment in infrastructure, including at Teesside Airport and hopefully that continues and it can be a real asset to the region. It’s also interesting to see the incredible talent in the region, specifically in the tech field and hopefully we can retain the best and brightest, rather than seeing them leave for other parts of the UK. Personally, I hope Hartlepool can benefit with a focus on supporting businesses and tourism allowing people to see what we have to offer as a town.
6. What projects/matters have you been involved with which you are most proud to be associated with?
The Coronavirus pandemic has, as with the vast majority of businesses, increased our reliance on technology and that in itself has yielded some positives. We’re currently working alongside local IT Consultants on an exciting, tech driven project which has, in my view, potential to assist a great number of our clients. We’re working hard on that and hope to launch it later this year.
7. What do you do to keep in touch with the business community in the area?
I’m a real fan of getting out and meeting other professionals and having a coffee or some lunch. For obvious reasons, that’s been hard over the last year but I’ve tried, where possible to catch up on Zoom and to support the remote events that others have held. I don’t think Zoom will ever replace face to face meetings, but it’s fair to say we’ve all had to make the best of it over the last year. It’s been great to meet new contacts and to catch up with some others and it’s a nice break form a long day working at home!
8. What have you done to support staff at Jacksons during the last few months when they have been working from home?
Working from home has some positives, but also real challenges and it’s been brilliant to see how our staff have adapted and overcome the various hurdles. It’s been important to keep in touch where we could, with team meetings and calls just to see how people are getting on generally. Jackson has had some great internal charity events over the last year, all held remotely, and that’s been really good fun.
9. Sum up why Teesside is a great place to work and live in one sentence.
Teesside is full of great people, who have a real passion for the area and I think that’s it’s biggest positive.
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