Gorvins Solicitors prides itself on the top-quality legal services we offer to our clients. We can only achieve that with the very best staff to guide you through your legal matter.
In our ‘Meet the team’ series, we pull back the curtain on some of the fantastic people who work at Gorvins. This month, we meet managing partner, Mark Deverell.
What’s your role at Gorvins?
I’m the Managing Partner at Gorvins and have been part of the firm since I first joined as a trainee back in 1992. Across three decades I’ve held pretty much every professional role you can think of, including senior partner and head of the litigation team, before stepping into the managing partner role five to six years ago.
My career journey
Gorvins has been my only job since leaving university. I started as a trainee in 1992 when the firm still had branch offices and spent my first two years rotating between them. One thing that stuck with me from day one was how much knowledge and skill sat with the support teams. My secretary at the time knew far more about running a case, managing clients and managing me than I did.
That early lesson shaped my view of what a law firm really is: an ecosystem where every single role matters. If one part breaks, everything slows down.
I qualified in 1994. It was a very different world: mobiles were not really used, no email, curly-paper faxes that faded in sunlight, and dictation on physical tapes. We worked long hours but had more time to think, reflect and understand clients.
Back then the firm was around 50 people. It was a great environment with healthy competition and a real sense that you could grow something through hard work and developing contacts and the business at whatever level you were at. In 1999 the two legacy firms merged and, despite being briefly demoted as part of the integration, I was given a VW Golf as compensation so I counted that as a win. I became an equity partner in 2001 and have been part of the leadership structure ever since.
How Gorvins has changed
The firm has never stood still. My role has changed every three to five years, which has kept me motivated and challenged. Culturally, though, the fundamentals have stayed consistent. We’re a people-focused practice. We support our colleagues, we look after each other and as a result people stay.
Over the years we’ve been through recessions, COVID and plenty of market shifts. Rather than cutting teams, we’ve always tried to reallocate people and keep the firm together. That’s made us resilient and has become a big part of why people want to work here.
One of our biggest selling points now is that we’re an independent practice. We’re not seeking investment or a takeover. The partnership values autonomy and we’re growing healthily without outside capital. Over the last 12 to 18 months, that independence has been a real recruitment advantage.
One piece of advice for clients
Speak to us early. The value isn’t just in the legal work itself, it’s in helping shape the direction of a project from the outset. Early conversations are rarely about cost. They’re about getting things right, setting off in the right direction and planning properly.
Why work with us? Because we give a personal service. You will have your own lawyer, your own relationship and a team who are genuinely invested in working with you.
What I enjoy outside of work
Family and the outdoors. We have three daughters, the oldest being 14, so they keep things nice and busy, although I’m hoping at least one of them will look after me in years to come!
Anyone who knows me will know how much I enjoy playing golf, as an outdoors activity its great and gives you time to think, the other added bonus is how it allows me to stay in touch with old friends and also meet new people.
My closest friends are still my old school friends and those long-standing relationships mean a lot to me. I take a similar approach to our client work at Gorvins. We want repeat work with clients who know and trust and come back to us time and time again.