Meet the Team: Jack Peart

Briefly describe what your role involves

I act for a whole range of companies, partnerships and individuals across Cornwall and Devon and even further afield, when it comes to their commercial and corporate needs.

I often work closely with other teams at Coodes, such as commercial property and private client, to make sure we always provide the right range of advice for our clients.

Did you always want to be a lawyer and what inspired you to pursue a legal career in the first place?

Despite my unsuccessful attempts to become the next David Beckham, Freddie Flintoff, or Top Gun, I’d always found the legal system particularly interesting and something I wanted to get involved in.

Once I started my A-Level in law, I decided that a career in law was something I wanted to pursue. After that, I’ve never really deviated from my ambition.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the variety of work that, as a department, we get. Most days I’m involved in working on several different areas within my sector. This can include buying or selling a company, drafting agreements for shareholders, or reviewing or drafting commercial contracts.

You mainly work with businesses in Cornwall and Devon. How do you see the local business community? What makes it different and what are its key strengths?

Although there’s a strong service sector in the region, there is also a wide range of different types of businesses here. Coming from East Anglia, it is similar there, and probably why I particularly enjoy this area of law, given the variety that comes across my desk.

One of the strengths of the business sector is the very clear emphasis on keeping it local with businesses wanting to help each other, which is particularly encouraging given the struggles many are currently facing.

What challenges do you think the future holds for your clients?

Adaptability. As I’ve said, with increasing economic and political pressures across the board, most clients will need to adapt to absorb and deal with the current problems we’re all facing.

Those that can adapt, will no doubt weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side.

What do you enjoy most about living and working in Cornwall?

A major draw for me is the coastline. Coming from the murky waters of the North Sea in East Anglia, to enjoying the clearness of the sea here in Cornwall, has certainly been an upgrade. Combined with a local ale and/or pasty when you get out of the sea, what more could you want?

What have you been most proud of in your career to date?

Qualifying as a solicitor despite being told at one point I would not make it as a solicitor. After proving them wrong and being able to go on and act on several multi-million-pound deals for my clients has hopefully shown them otherwise!

Who or what inspires you in your work?

My first supervisor within the legal sector. Having taught me so much and given me the confidence to grow as a young person, I was looking forward to slowly taking over from them as they began to retire, appreciating the trust they had in me to take on more and more of their work.

Unfortunately, they unexpectedly passed away shortly after I qualified so that we were not able to see this through together, but I will forever be indebted to them for the time they spent teaching me what I know now.

What’s the most important project you’re currently working on?

Not one, but several farm partnership agreements. With an eye on the future and a need to formalise matters between current partners to add clarity, combined with most banks making it a requirement of farming partnerships these days, I am currently working on a lot of these.

I cannot stress just how important these agreements can be, especially if something unexpected happens. Any farming partnership without a formal agreement should seriously consider one as soon as possible.

How would your colleagues describe you?

Tall is often one of the first thing colleagues will say because I am 6ft 4 inches. But on a serious note, approachable and pragmatic, as I will help my colleagues and clients in any way I can, considering both the commercial and legal perspective of any situation.