17/10/2022
David Morgan is a corporate solicitor who joined Beswicks in April 2022. As well as having a breadth of corporate and commercial experience, David also has employment law expertise.
But there’s more to David Morgan than meets the eye, from tambourine playing to creative writing, as we found out in our recent Q&A.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I am a solicitor in the corporate department here at Beswicks, practising mergers and acquisitions, commercial and employment law.
I grew up in the north-west, taking in Wirral, Macclesfield, Congleton and Liverpool, before settling in Sandbach with my wife, two children and our recently rescued springer spaniel puppy, Poppy.
I studied a first degree in criminology and sociology at the University of Liverpool. Before training to be a solicitor I had a previous career working in project management but studied for four years part-time during my spare time to convert to law at Manchester Metropolitan University and haven’t looked back since!
What’s the best bit about your job?
It may be slightly cliched, but the best bit of the job for me is definitely client satisfaction. Nothing beats the feeling of doing a great job for a client on a transaction that is often life changing for them.
I also love the variety of what we do. There is the variety of clients that we get to work with – I love getting to know a business, what makes it tick, what its challenges are and, of course, helping to overcome those challenges. I work with clients across sectors such as construction, education, telecommunications, care providers, and sport to name but a few, and understanding the nuances of the particular sector that the business operates in is a really interesting part of the job.
There is also the variety of the work itself, with no two jobs being the same, and a business’s legal requirements covering such a broad spectrum of areas.
Do you have a secret talent?
I was the Black Firs Primary School chess champion in 1995 and still have the prize, a book of chess tactics, on my bookshelf at home.
There is a long running family joke that I am a dab hand on the tambourine, a reference to me being given this important role to be included as part of a band with my musically gifted brothers and sister at a family wedding, and an apparent slight on my musical prowess. However, this is very unfair, as I am actually a certified grade 2 flautist (although admittedly a bit rusty).
If you weren’t a solicitor, what would your ideal job be?
As a child I was desperate to move to the USA and be a professional wrestler in the WWE (WWF as it was then) and live in a mansion. Later on, when I was at high school and it had become clear that my physical attributes were unlikely to make the grade at professional wrestler level, I had a more realistic interest in pursuing a career in journalism. Although I went off that idea having been presented with the harsh realities of writing for a local newspaper during a two-week work experience stint. I do still enjoy creative writing and reading – so maybe my ideal job if I weren’t a solicitor would have been as a novelist.
There is a famous quote that says that ‘everyone has a book in them’, although that same quote does conclude ‘and that, in most cases, is where it should stay’. So perhaps best to just stick with the law.
What was your first job (any job, not just legal) and what big lesson did you learn from it?
My first job was as a paper boy for the local newsagent. I saw many other paper boys and girls come and go during my stint, as they invariably failed to stick at it (particularly when we started to approach the winter months). I think that my time as a paper boy, getting myself out on my bike early in the morning in all weathers and at all times of the year, taught me the value of hard work and applying yourself with a positive attitude regardless of the task at hand, a lesson that was reinforced during subsequent roles as a cleaner at a leisure club and crew member at a popular fast-food establishment. I think these early jobs set me up for a future career and set the tone for my attitude to work to this day.
What motto would you say you live and work by?
I like the Benjamin Franklin quote ‘Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today’, which I think is equally applicable to both your personal and work life and is how I try to apply myself day to day.
If you could turn the clock back, what advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
In the words of the late, great Bob Marley – ‘Don’t worry, about a thing, cause every little thing, is gonna be alright’. I think that there is so much pressure on young people to have ‘the plan’ and take decisions that will affect the rest of their lives at a time when in a lot of cases (myself included) you are not necessarily mature enough and don’t have enough life experience to actually be able to make informed decisions that are right for you. I would say, take your time, take opportunities that present themselves, and make the most of your life while taking the time to decide what you see yourself doing in the long term (and not to worry about what or when that might be in the meantime).
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I am not really a ‘sunny climes’ person (my genetic make up does not allow it) so any of the usual tropical/hot locations are out of the question. I have been fascinated by locations at the other end of the weather scale ever since watching David Attenborough’s ‘Life in the Freezer’ and reading the accompanying book back in the 90s, and while I accept that the Arctic/Antarctic may be slightly too hostile an environment to bring up a family, somewhere slightly less extreme such as Scandinavia would probably be my choice. That said, I love where I live now, so I probably wouldn’t take up the option anyway, but maybe I’ll retire to Norway one day.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I don’t seem to have a great deal of spare time at the moment, as what I do have is often filled with taxiing the kids to various football/netball/gymnastics/dancing activities and taking our springer spaniel Poppy on long walks – she has an awful lot of energy to burn!
I am something of a film buff and try to get to the cinema whenever I can. I like to go and watch live music (most recently the Liam Gallagher gig at Knebworth), stand-up comedy and sport (I am a regular at Anfield, but also enjoy taking in non-league games at my local club), and I play 5-a-side football and the occasional round of golf. I also take a keen interest in education, which led me to become a member of the trust of a local high school academy.
To speak to David Morgan or any member of our corporate or employment law teams, please phone our Stoke-on-Trent solicitors on 01782 205000 or our Altrincham solicitors on 0161 929 8446. Alternatively, you can email enquiry@beswicks.com.