Tom Lumsden, an Equity Partner in the Commercial Property team at CooperBurnett LLP is celebrating 20 years with the firm, a period of time he says has passed by ‘incredibly quickly’.
“Over the two decades, I’m delighted to have seen the firm grow and flourish and, today, CooperBurnett punches well above its weight,” Tom says.
“I’ve enjoyed the relationships built with both clients and my colleagues. It’s great to look back over 20 years here and still be working with quite a few of the same people – that social continuity and daily interaction make all the difference.”
While at school, Tom couldn’t decide if he wanted to pursue a career in medicine or law.
“My key value is ‘service to others’,” Tom explains. “I wanted to reach out and help people in my career. From the beginning, I have worked quite a lot in the charity sector; it feels important to me to give something back.”
Tom studied law at the University of Durham, after which he secured a training contract with a firm in Westminster – well-regarded nationally as experts in charity, education, ecclesiastical and parliamentary law – and, once qualified, he was offered a role in the Commercial Property team.
Tom stayed with the firm for seven or eight years, before taking a few roles and eventually being head-hunted to join Vizards Tweedie (now VWV), the firm where Charles Dickens had worked as a clerk. Again, this firm had a strong focus on charities and boasted several livery companies as clients, many of which had diverse property portfolios.
Then, in 2006, Tom received a call from a recruitment consultant, telling him about a firm in Tunbridge Wells looking to replace a Partner in the Commercial Property team, who was retiring. Tom came into CooperBurnett to meet Nigel Burnett and Victoria Sampson and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I was impressed by the client base that already existed within the Commercial Property team and, while I wasn’t familiar with Tunbridge Wells, it instantly had a pleasant feel to it – which it still does today,” says Tom, who accepted an offer to join TeamCB as a Partner.
Today, Tom says he continues to enjoy the ‘variety of clients’ and ‘quality of work’ that comes across his desk.
Supporting charities is still something at the heart of what Tom does and he has provided pro bono advice to The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre in Tunbridge Wells for many years. His day-to-day case load continues to include quite a few charity clients, while he has become an expert in advising carehome owners, on issues including on-site acquisition, disposal and finance, while one of Tom’s other expert areas is leasehold enfranchisement.
After 20 years, he says CooperBurnett remains a really ‘happy place to work’.
“When I first joined, I knew I’d found my ‘forever home’ career-wise; it immediately felt like the right place to be and I appreciated CooperBurnett’s very friendly and collegiate atmosphere,” Tom says. “I think the Tunbridge Wells business community helped me to feel comfortable as well. I did more networking in my first three weeks with the firm in 2006 than I’d done in three years in London. It continues to be a friendly community and everyone looks out for each other.”
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