MD Law is the trading name for the legal consultancy and advice services provided by former solicitor
Martin Davies

Some information about Martin Davies

The Boring Stuff

A Brief Overview

A qualified solicitor (admitted 1985) I spent nine years in private practice (four as a Managing Partner) before moving into full-time management and marketing positions within law firms. Following a spell as a Director of Marketing with a large regional law firm, I subsequently became Director of Operations with a top 100 law firm, turning over in excess of £12m per annum and with 9 offices in the south east. I now own my own company - LAW on the WEB UK Ltd - which runs two of the UK’s most popular legal websites - LAW on the WEB (www.lawontheweb.co.uk) - the leading legal internet portal, and Can I Claim? (www.caniclaim.com) - a dedicated online legal advice and information site for accident and medical negligence victims

September 1983 - April 1987 - Whelton Sinclair & Co - solicitors - Deal, Dover and Canterbury, Kent
I served articles (solicitor’s apprenticeship) with the firm, before qualifying as a solicitor in September 1985.

May 1987 - January 1992 - Larcomes - solicitors - Portsmouth, Hampshire
After a year as an Assistant Solicitor, I became Managing Partner with full responsibility for all the firm’s management functions. I remained an active lawyer specialising in employment, personal injury and crime. Initially a four partner practice the firm doubled in size during my five years with them, and profits increased year on year. I resigned from the partnership at the beginning of 1992.

February 1992 - April 1994 - Freestyle - Legal Marketing Consultancy
In February 1992 I established Freestyle, a marketing consultancy to the legal profession, and legal copywriting service to graphics and advertising agencies. I worked with a variety of law firms on a variety of projects, including a long term contract with White & Bowker, a 15 partner legal practice in Hampshire. In May 1994 I was invited to become their first Director of Marketing.

May 1994 - April 1999 - White & Bowker, solicitors
Having initially worked for the firm as a marketing consultant, I joined White & Bowker in the role of Director of Marketing in May 1994 on a part-time basis (three days per week). In May 1998 I took on the full-time role. I was responsible for the creation and implementation of the firm’s marketing plan, and sat on the firm’s Management Team. Projects included the creation of a Client Care Package, installation of a relational marketing database, and creating, maintaining and developing the firm’s new web site.

August 1999 - February 2000 - Argles Stoneham Burstows, solicitors
I joined Burstows in August as Business Manager shortly before their merger with two other practices, upon which I was appointed Director of Operations for the merged firm. I was a member of the Management Board and reported directly to the Managing Partner. I had responsibility for all the firm’s IT, personnel, marketing, and facilities functions via managers in each discipline, and I worked alongside the three existing Finance Managers to control the firm’s finance function. ASB-law as they are now called are a Top 100 law firm and have nine offices throughout the south east.

February 2000 - to date - LAW on the WEB UK Ltd
The LAW on the WEB website was actually set up in July 1999 and, with ASB’s agreement, continued whilst I was with them. In February 2000 I decided to concentrate full-time on this project, which won a prestigious Yell UK Web Award in July 2000, and is now the public’s most-used free legal advice and value-added legal portal. In September 2000 we also launched Can I Claim? (www.caniclaim.com) a dedicated personal injury and medical negligence site.

Publications

I have written and had published two books :-

Legal Marketing (Blackstone Press 1995) - Part of the Legal Practice Handbook series this is an introduction to marketing for solicitors, covering topics such as creating a marketing strategy, implementing the marketing plan, internal and external marketing, and the marketing database.

How to Apply for a Legal Aid Franchise (Blackstone Press 1993) - A "no-nonsense guide" to the Legal Aid Board’s franchising specification, explaining what they are, why firm’s should apply and how to go about it.

I have also had various articles published over the years (read some recent ones here)

And apart from the law

I am a keen advocate of IT and have become familiar with various word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, web design and database packages, including Word, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, CorelDraw, Powerpoint, Frontpage, Fireworks and Access. I have planned and produced two new websites for law firms that I have worked with, and have written, designed and produced both of LAW on the WEB’s current sites.

I have lectured at the University of Portsmouth in Business Law (1993-1994) and I am currently running a series of seminars for BLS to the legal profession on How to Develop an Effective Law Firm Website. I have also done a small amount of work with Legal Network Television, a video-based legal training company.

From 2001 - 2005 I was a Governor of the West Dean CE Primary School, and for the last 2 years I was Chair of the Governing Body.

The Academic Bit

1972 - 1979 - Slough Grammar School, Slough, Berkshire.
10 'O' Levels, and 3 'A' Levels

1979 - 1983 - Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham (now the Nottingham Trent University).
BA (Hons) Law 2:2 (1983)
Law Society Finals (1984)

1993 - 1994 Northbrook College Worthing
CIM Diploma in Marketing (1994)

My time

Away from my PC and the law I enjoy sport. Whilst at school I played cricket and football to county level. I am a qualified cricket and rugby coach and coach local youth teams in each sport. I play cricket myself for Singleton Cricket club, whom I captained from 2005-2007.