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DX Group originated in the legal sector, with the Document Exchange members’ network (informally “The DX”) supplying most legal firms (as well as some in-house legal departments) and the public sector across the UK and Ireland with physical document courier services.
Now, it is a leading provider of delivery solutions including parcel freight, secure courier, and logistics services to both business and residential addresses across the UK and Ireland operating through two divisions – DX Express and DX Freight.
Head of Legal at DX, Russell Deards, needed a flexible and experienced lawyer to help him and his team with their increased workload. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, they had seen a growth in the demand for their services (and therefore work for Russell’s team) and had reached a situation where the legal team did not have the resource in-house to deal with a number of new IT contracts and renegotiations that had arisen.
Russell needed someone with relevant contracts and IT experience who could quickly come into the team to deal with the most urgent work and help plug the capacity shortfall. As his department was already stretched, it was imperative that this person be self- motivated and self-reliant. Equally important was someone who would get to know the business and how it works and be a good fit in the team. Without being able to commit to an increased headcount and recruit a permanent member of staff, this was an additional challenge.
Having been a Client Legal Director with The Legal Director, Russell was aware of their service model of putting senior lawyers into businesses on a flexible or part-time basis. He knew that this would be a potential solution for DX and so contacted Kirstie Penk, Director at TLD. Kirstie introduced Russell to IT legal expert, Rustam Roy, and from their first meeting he knew that Rustam met the brief: “I was looking for resource expertise and cultural fit and understanding and that’s what Rustam brought straight away.”
Rustam joined Russell’s team in March 2021 to help with some IT and Tech supplier contracts. Originally, it was thought that this additional support would be required for two to three months to deal with a few specific contracts but, as the team has continued to find itself dealing with a high volume of legal work, Rustam has carried on working with DX and is now available on demand, as an outsourced member of Russell’s team.
Rustam has been pivotal in working on the DX Exchange Portal, a digital platform providing a supplementary free addition for existing subscribers of DX’s physical service, setting the commercial parameters and creating the Terms of Use for the customers. Rustam had to work to a challenging timeline, managing the risk for DX, whilst ensuring that the new rules were compatible with existing offline terms. Their specific user base being accustomed to a mature and high- quality service from DX, Rustam also had to ensure that there was no disruption or undue complication for current customers.
Having the ability to amend how much and for how long they get Rustam’s additional support gives DX a flexibility and level of control that is invaluable in helping them manage their workload.
Rustam’s expertise and experience have been of enormous benefit to DX. As the team is exceptionally busy, it cannot devote a lot of time bringing someone up to speed with the work and the priorities, so having a senior lawyer who is a self-starter, who asks the right questions and who is an expert in his field has been very reassuring. Russell says: “Rustam is used to giving proper risk-based guidance and has the courage to give the advice that is needed. The business loves his directness and efficiency.”
He also appreciates the value for money that the TLD model represents compared to traditional law firms: “It’s more than proved its worth for the knowledge and experience. The comparative rates for the work and the way of charging just all makes much more sense for us.”
And the fact that the relationship is ongoing, and the work continues to come through also testifies to the fact that Rustam is a good fit for the team. Being “supportive” and “enthusiastic” form part of TLD’s Client Charter and we think carefully about which lawyers would best suit each business and help it thrive. Russell says he has received great feedback from the rest of the team about Rustam and admires the way he has “just connected with the business and with the way people work.” And from Rustam’s perspective, he enjoys working somewhere with a “good atmosphere” where he feels “like part of the team.” The positive working culture that has been established benefits the business and lawyer alike.
The Legal Director is a fully regulated legal consultancy that provides businesses with high-calibre experienced lawyers on a part-time or flexible basis.
By working smarter as part of the client’s business, and by delivering legal advice from a business perspective, we can demonstrably save our clients significant amounts of money and directors’ time.
The Legal Director is the most transparent, cost-effective way of embedding a senior lawyer within your business — at a fraction of the cost of employing a full-time Legal Director or engaging with a traditional law firm on an ad hoc basis.
We match one of our lawyers to your business needs and he/she then performs as a member of your senior management team, just like an in-house lawyer. Moreover, clients can use our unique 9-point legal framework for business-focused legal advice to systematically address key business areas that require legal expertise and appropriate action.
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Email us at info@thelegaldirector.co.uk
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Tel : 020 3056 8538
Email: info@thelegaldirector.co.uk
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