Members of the legal community are mourning Stephen Doggett, one of the law’s most prominent communications professionals, who passed away on 8 August after a two-year battle with a rare form of cancer.
Lawyers, PR professionals and others in the sector paid tribute to a “true gentleman” whose kindness and decency left its mark on many.
Matthew Kelsall, the CEO of Clyde & Co, his final employer, said: “We mourn the loss of Stephen, a much respected colleague and a much loved friend to so many at the firm. Those who worked with Stephen will remember him for his calm professionalism, sound counsel, unmatched knowledge of the legal sector, as well as his dry wit and sense of humour. He will be much missed by us all. We send our sincerest condolences to all his family and friends at this most difficult of times, especially his wife and three boys, to whom he was so devoted.”
Graduating with a First class degree in Physics and Philosophy of Science from King’s College London, ‘SJD’ had an exceptional brain, which he used to the full over the course of his career. Hailing from a small Northern village, the allure of London had called to him from a very young age, and upon graduation he remained in the City, taking a job at the publisher Legalease, where he worked first for The Legal 500 series and soon as a journalist for Legal Business magazine, his skilled financial and statistical analysis providing an extra level of sophistication to its market reports.
Despite his keen intelligence, Stephen had no air of superiority; friends and colleagues remember a grounded family man who was deeply kind and had a genuine interest in and concern for other people. Chris Johnson, who worked with him at Legalease, recalls an occasion when a mistake that was almost certainly his own left the board of a law firm stewing waiting for a meeting that never came. Stephen instead took responsibility, sparing his more junior colleague from the awkward repercussions.
His talent soon got him noticed by the market and in 2006 he was sought out by the then-head of marketing and communications for Baker McKenzie in London, Matt Duggan. One of Duggan’s biggest challenges at that time was to improve Bakers’ profile, especially in the UK, with a key part of this being to help the firm’s partners build open and trusted relationships with the media. Stephen’s analysis and comment, intellectual rigour and personable manner had already made him very popular with the Bakers partners.
“Because of this and knowing how much he liked the culture of Bakers, I took the opportunity to convince our partners and Steve that he would be an excellent addition to the firm to lead our communications strategy,” Duggan remembers. “Luckily for us Steve agreed and his career in professional services communications was born. He transformed how we communicated and expertly balanced the expectations and needs of his very different and often challenging internal and external stakeholders. He is a great loss to his family, friends, the community he served and the legal industry he was so passionate and proud to be a member of.”
While he had the love and admiration of his colleagues, Stephen also commanded the respect of journalists across the City, who knew they would always get fair dealings from him without any fuss or panic. His affectionate nickname at The Lawyer was ‘Mad Dog’, an ironic dubbing for the most serene of men.
After nearly six years at Bakers Stephen moved on to Clyde & Co, becoming its global head of communications and a trusted member of the management team. It was 2015 and Clydes was in the process of a radical transformation and in need of a global communications function that matched the firm’s growing size and ambitions. As well as building and leading that global team, he helped Clydes tell its story better and in 2016 it won The Lawyer’s Law Firm of the Year award.
Stephen’s science background allowed him to take a data-led approach to public relations and communications, an unusual tactic in the field. He would pore over data to find stories, test a hypothesis or prove hunches, recalls William Brewster, who came to work for Stephen at Clydes and now its head of communications. ‘Near enough’ wasn’t good enough for Stephen and he demanded high standards from his team and in response people showed him huge respect and loyalty.
As well as helping establish the Clyde & Co brand in the market, especially in the US where he helped position the firm for its exponential growth there with a concerted marketing campaign in the insurance sector, he also established the firm’s first global intranet to aid the sharing of information within a firm that had grown to be 4,000 people strong. He also left his mark on the firm’s annual partner conference, once again helping to move the firm on in its thinking and creating an event suitable for a 400-partner global firm. His clear thinking and communications nous ensured the events were well focused, impactful and memorable.
“Stephen was a wonderful person to work for and will be much missed at Clyde & Co and throughout the legal profession,” says Brewster. “He was kind, fair, determined and loyal, not to mention hugely talented, intelligent and diligent. His knowledge of the legal sector was second to none and I, like so many, learnt so much from him and counted him as a good friend. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, whom he utterly adored.”
Though Stephen did not have a loud or overbearing personality, it was nonetheless a social and engaging one. He was a talented raconteur and at Clydes would often call people into his office for what was supposedly a quick chat but would end up being an hours-long discussion about a certain firm, legal publication or an explanation (often backed up by figures and charts) of a concept or theme he was mulling over in his enquiring mind.
Outside of his professional life, Stephen cultivated many interests, including a love of music. He was a committed Christian and an involved member of his local church in Stanmore, and was training for ministry. He met his wife Lorraine in his first year at King’s and they married at St Helen’s Bishopsgate in 2004. He was a loving father to three sons, Nathan, Seth and Jesse. A Crowdfunder has been set up to support his family.
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