Meet Elliot Tayler, M&A Consultant, Legal Practice

Could you please tell us a bit about your background before joining AJ Chambers?

Prior to joining AJ Chambers, I worked for 4 years at a Top 100 law firm as a Corporate Solicitor. After I completed the Legal Practice Course and achieved a Masters in Law, Business and Management at the University of Law in London. During my time in Corporate Law, I gained a wealth of experience working on Mergers & Acquisitions for a range of businesses.

I grew up in Chelmsford, Essex with strong ties to the region and studied my undergraduate law degree in Nottingham.

What regions and practice areas are you covering?

My role at AJ Chambers focuses on assisting Legal Practice owners with their growth plans. Be it via acquisition, merger or exit strategy.

Legal Practice Owners will be mindful of the current economic climate. Rising Professional Indemnity Insurance costs and talent acquisition difficulties as key reasons for looking to the M&A market to futureproof their businesses. My role will ensure that these factors are mitigated by ‘matchmaking’ buying and selling parties. Through consultation to ensure a successful merger or acquisition stands the test of time.

AJ Chambers deals with a full range of Legal Practices; from larger international firms through to small and medium practices, and even sole practitioners.

How do you feel your past experience will help add value to our clients?

Not only do I have a wealth of experience working in the M&A sector from a legal perspective. I also have first-hand experience of what life is like working inside a law firm.

This puts me in an ideal position to appreciate both the business, and cultural factors, that make a merger or acquisition successful. It is often the culture and people within a Legal Practice that truly define the long-term success of a deal and it is vital that attention is given to this when introducing the parties.

What does your role involve?

I will work each day to source a buyer or seller (as the case may be) that suits the needs of my clients. It may be that such a party already exists within AJ Chambers vast network of clients.

Once a suitable introduction is made, I will act as a helpful conduit from the outset of the transaction through to Completion.

What is your favourite company value, and how does it relate to you?

Maintaining integrity and confidentiality is crucial for my role, as clients will disclose sensitive information to me about their business throughout the process. As a qualified solicitor, my clients can rest assured that this will remain at the forefront of my mind and any details about a proposed deal will remain secret.

My goal is aligned with that of AJ Chambers in wanting to maintain lasting relationships with our clients, which continue long after the conclusion of a particular transaction.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

There are several intangibles involved in the M&A process that can cause difficulties in finding success in a transaction. It is these difficulties, though, that means my service provides value to Legal Practice owners. Who undoubtedly already have a busy workload running their businesses.

Outside of work, what do you like to do?

I have a keen interest in sport, particularly football and basketball. Though I perhaps spend too much time watching sport rather than playing it!

Aside from sport, I like hiking and going to live music. I toured California earlier this year, very fortunately visiting the Yosemite National Park and going to the Coachella music festival.

What are 3 things on your bucket list?

The main thing on my bucket list is to continue to travel and experience different cultures. I recently travelled across South Korea on my own. Enjoying a stay at a Buddhist temple where I practiced zen martial arts and yoga… not that I was any good!

I would love to ‘tick-off’ the seven wonders of the world, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and experience the Northern Lights.

Love to see my football team win the premier league, just once. But I think doing all the above is much more likely given their success in my lifetime – I’ll leave you to guess who that team is.