Peake: taking Harneys to new heights?

Since being appointed to the top job in January, William Peake has his eyes firmly fixed on overseas expansion with Jersey and Dublin on his target list

By turns humorous and self-deprecating, a more naturally engaging global managing partner would be hard to find: that much is apparent from watching the series of empathetic online interviews that William Peake has recently given outlining his vision for the BVI-headquartered firm. “I do a weekly video to the firm, a few minutes of what’s on my desk,” he says. “The main reason: when I visit other offices, it gives people a hook to stop me in the corridor and have a meaningful conversation.” The serious mindset required by the role he now occupies is also in evidence – an essential prerequisite, given the weight of Caribbean competition from the likes of Appleby, Carey Olsen, Conyers, Maples, Mourant, Ogier and Walkers, among others, which has intensified in recent years. But Peake’s ambition goes beyond maintaining Harneys’ position as a big hitter in BVI and Cayman-related litigation and corporate work. His strategy is suffused with talk of expansion.