Business profile; Ridley & Halls’ Sarah Young
by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Apr 26 2011
JOURNALISM was Sarah Young’s first choice of career – until she did a swap with a friend!
Sarah, who hails from Epsom in Surrey and was educated at a convent school in Wimbledon, said: “I was going to be a journalist or a writer. But when I was in the sixth form, a friend asked me to go with her on an introduction to law course. She wanted me to go for company.
“My friend wanted to study law at university while I wanted to do English. But after attending the course, she decided to do English and I decided to do law! The thought of being able to debate and argue had massive appeal – that and the influence of LA Law, which was on TV in those days!”
Sarah attended Hull University and York Law School. “That’s what really introduced me to the north and made me want to practice law here,” she says.
Sarah qualified in 1994 and spent a year in Norfolk before moving to Huddersfield and joining Ridley & Hall.
“It was a bit of a culture shock,” she recalls.“I was the only vegetarian solicitor Ridley & Hall had ever employed. I also came to work wearing a trouser suit, which was a big deal in those days. That started a trend of women at the firm being allowed to wear trousers.
“Ridley & Hall has never been a ‘stuffy’ firm, but trousers for women wasn’t the done thing. I don’t think they knew what to do with me!”
Sarah began working in general litigation, but was soon specialising in personal injury cases alongside colleague Nigel Priestley.
She worked on some very big cases involving cases of cerebral palsy and head injuries, which held a particular interest because of the often complex issues involved compared to typical PI work on slips and trips.
“These complex cases involve getting together a range of experts and working with a family for a long time,” she says. “It is like conducting an orchestra, bringing together a team of excellent people who can really help the client.
“If you are able to get the right support for someone with an injury like that, you can see things change for the better for them.”
Says Sarah: “I really like meeting people and a lot of clients will keep in touch after we’ve dealt with their problems. It’s a privilege to have people feel they can call on you and rely on you.”
Sarah is also handling more ‘contentious probate’ cases – typically families arguing over wills.
She is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly and the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Solicitors.
“It is still all about the skills I use in litigation, but it is a different area of law,” she says, pointing out that disputes over wills are becoming more prevalent in an age of “broken” families, divorce and re-marriage – and when people are living longer but face issues such as dementia.
“It is creating a real timebomb,” says Sarah. “People have more assets and there is more money to argue over. Husbands may have children from a first marriage and make wills which leave everything to their wives, unintentionally cutting out those children.”
Unsurprisingly, Sarah is keen to encourage people to make a will – ensuring that they make their intentions clear.
Sarah’s skills as managing partner at Ridley & Hall contributed to her winning an award from the Association of Women Solicitors last year.
And as if she isn’t busy enough, Sarah completed a year in office as president of Huddersfield Law Society in 2010 and is active in the society’s twinning project – set up by Nigel Priestley – to work with solicitors in Uganda.
“I got involved about five years ago,” she says, “and I have been out to Uganda twice. It is challenging and difficult at times, but it is a massive thing to do.”
Huddersfield lawyers have provided relevant textbooks “begged and borrowed” from training providers and barristers to furnish a burgeoning legal library for the Ugandan Law Society.
“Huddersfield Law Society comprises relatively small firms of solicitors and there is a lot of synergy with law firms in Uganda,” says Sarah.
“What they really need is not the big corporate law firms from London telling them how to do big high-profile deals, but people like themselves dealing with issues such as setting up files, dealing with the accounts, how to treat your staff and time management.
“It isn’t a one-way street, however. We are learning all the time about how we ought to be doing things. It’s about helping each other to become better lawyers.”
Says Sarah: “I enjoyed the whole experience of meeting people and travelling around the country. It is not something I expected to be doing as a solicitor, but in many ways it has been life-transforming.”
Sarah is proud of other initiatives set up by the Huddersfield Law Society, including a rota of solicitors providing free advice on Wednesday and Friday morning at Huddersfield County Court.
She says: “When Huddersfield solicitors come together they are a formidable group. The society is in vibrant health.”
One initiative Ridley & Hall has pioneered is a new service backed by a dedicated website called Elderflower.
Says Sarah: “We have a lot of people living longer, but local services are not always geared up for people approaching retirement age or those already retired.
“They are having to consider issues with serious legal and financial implications such as wills, lasting powers of attorney, pensions, equity-release and care home costs.
“Elderflower is a unique service because we bring together the financial and legal advice on issues affecting older people.”
Ridley & Hall is joined in the scheme by Huddersfield accountancy firm Sheards, UK Wealth Management and Bell & Buxton, a specialist in tackling “elder abuse” and contentious probate.
Sarah could also give good advice to anyone seeking a better work-life balance.
“I work four days a week and I have one day at home to spend time with the family,” she says.
“About 50% of our staff work part-time in some shape or form and I support that because you get the best from people when you enable people to have a working life that works for them.
“We let staff work from home on occasions to avoid a long commute. Everyone works well together to make sure there are no ‘gaps’.”
Away from work, Sarah finds great delight tending her flock of hens. “They were a birthday present from my husband,” she says. “There’s something life-affirming about collecting the eggs in the morning.”
