Meet the team - Peter Sweeney, business development manager

In this issue, we catch up with Peter Sweeney in our business development team.

Peter has a wealth of experience in the legal sector, having been a criminal defence lawyer for ten years and then spending over 20 years in Legal IT and software-related industries, before joining First4Lawyers in August 2016. This blend of experience means Peter is perfectly placed to help firms develop and understands the pressures they are under.

Prior to First4Lawyers, Peter was instrumental in helping law firms to drive their businesses forward and was involved in developing and selling the very first legal case management systems.

Peter’s business experience has spanned single partner and multi-national firms requiring data centre provision across the globe.

Having worked in a software house that developed an integration with the MoJ portal, he understands only too well the issues and complexities of the modern claims landscape.

Peter says: “I had an opportunity to move into the early stages of case management systems and helped develop some of the earliest legal and case management systems. I’ve seen the industry advance from Windows 95 to systems that span the world on data centres accessible from offices around the world.

“I worked in legal practice for ten years too, so having been in that role and now in my current job I have gained a real understanding of the pressures that lawyers are under. “

His main focus at First4Lawyers is our existing panel members across the north of England and helping to bring new panel members on board. He’s on the road for client visits about three days a week.

“For me the best part of the job is to help businesses grow,” Peter said. “We have small firms that have grown with us, using our services to bring in new leads and flourish. It’s very satisfying to see how businesses grow with our help.”

Like everyone at First4Lawyers, Peter is committed to trying to preserve the personal injury sector.

“The Civil Liability reforms have left the industry in limbo since 2016, but there is still a great deal of uncertainty over whether they will actually be brought in next April,” Peter says. “One of the reasons I like working for the business is that we are at the forefront of giving the personal injury market a voice and have been very active in making submissions to parliament to do that.”

Peter is based in a small village high in the Pennines where he enjoys the peace and quiet and a spot of clay pigeon shooting. His real passion is travel, having been all over the world, including Canada, the USA, most of Europe and the Far East.

“I love to get away and whenever I have time off you will find me on a long haul flight somewhere,” Peter says. “I try to get away about five times a year and explore the world at any opportunity. I love South East Asia because it is so beautiful, cheap and the climate is perfect, and I recently went to Cambodia. South America is next on my list.”

Ultimately, Peter would like to retire abroad, but says he has no plans to leave any time soon!