There’s a peculiar truth about innovation: it rarely begins with a grand strategy document. More often, it starts with something small, messy and human – like helping your brother‑in‑law chase unpaid plumbing invoices. From that unlikely spark came Garfield AI, the first SRA‑regulated AI law firm, and the latest venture of serial founder Philip Young (CYK and Garfield AI).
In this episode, Clare Murray sits down with Philip to explore what it really means to build a challenger law firm in today’s market. The conversation is less about buzzwords and more about the uncomfortable, liberating truths of founding:
- AI as ally, not assassin: why the future of law isn’t about replacing lawyers, but giving them superpowers.
- The Garfield origin story: from small claims to CFOs, how a plumbing debt recovery tool became a mission to democratise justice.
- Regulation as brand asset: why being SRA‑regulated isn’t red tape – it’s a trust signal that separates the serious from the gimmicky.
- Funding with intent: the deliberate choice of angels over VCs to protect access‑to‑justice from being swallowed by growth‑at‑all‑costs.
- The new talent mix: Legal Engineers, Developers, and hybrid teams that look more like start‑ups than traditional partnerships.
- The founder’s paradox: resilience, outsider thinking, and the courage to break habits that no one remembers choosing in the first place.
- Failure as rehearsal: “It’s the cover‑up, not the mistake, that ends careers.”
- Life beyond the office: why catching the 5:02 train home might be the most radical founder decision of all.
- And yes – the Garfield name: not the cartoon cat, but a long‑running in‑joke that proves even serious ventures need levity.
For founders, the questions linger:
- Which traditions in your firm are genuine virtues – and which are just crayons you’ve never dared to put down?
- Is your funding structure aligned with your mission, or quietly undermining it?
- And when technology knocks, will you treat it as a threat to your craft – or as the lever that frees you to practise it more fully?
If you are a current or future law firm founder who wants to discuss any issues or opportunities relating to being a founder, please contact Clare Murray, Founder and Managing Partner of CM Murray LLP.
