Lewis Silkin’s Jo Farmer on why two managing partners are better than one

Jo Farmer, joint managing partner of Lewis Silkin, joins the podcast to discuss the firm’s rapid growth and the strategy behind it. She explains why Lewis Silkin has resisted chasing revenue for its own sake, instead focusing on organic growth, its core strengths and expanding into locations where it sees opportunities for both clients and talent.

Jo also talks about her own route into law, from growing up without any lawyers in the family to building a career in IP and advertising and eventually becoming joint managing partner. She discusses why social mobility matters so much to her, and why she believes Lewis Silkin’s distinctive history continues to shape the culture of the firm today.

We get into leadership too, including why Jo never originally planned to become managing partner, what she learned from studying leadership at Cambridge and Harvard, and why she is a big believer in sharing the top job with fellow joint managing partner Richard Miskella.

Finally, Jo shares how Lewis Silkin is approaching AI, from its early adoption of Harvey to building its own employment product, Delphius.

Chapters

00:01 Introduction
00:50 Jo’s journey to Lewis Silkin and managing partner
03:46 What makes Lewis Silkin different
08:06 Social mobility and opening up routes into law
10:02 Why Jo never planned to become managing partner
12:25 The case for joint managing partners
16:37 What Harvard taught Jo about leadership
22:47 The strategy behind Lewis Silkin’s rapid growth
30:34 AI, Harvey and the future of the law firm model