Louise Long is a partner and head of private client advisory at Birketts and has more than 30 years’ experience advising individuals, families, trustees and business owners of the preservation, management and succession of private wealth. Louise acts for a wide range of high-net-worth clients, many of whom she has advised over several decades and across multiple generations, and is frequently regarded by clients as a trusted adviser to both their families and their wider professional networks. Her practice encompasses succession and inheritance tax planning, trusts, estate administration and broader wealth structuring advice often involving substantial business, investment, agricultural and landed assets.
What was your career path to your current role?
I first joined Birketts as an articled clerk in 1989. Just a month later, the firm merged and became Birkett, Westhorp & Long. I remained with the firm after qualifying in 1991, and when the demerger took place in 1995, I became one of the founding partners of a new firm called Birkett Long – a separate firm from Birketts. After a number of years there, I moved to other firms before returning to Birketts in 2011 as a senior associate. I became a partner in 2013 and head of the private client advisory team in 2022.
At my previous firm someone once described me as being “like a stick of rock with Birketts stamped right through the middle”. Birketts has always felt like the place I was meant to be. Returning to the firm in 2011 felt like coming home and I remain so proud to be part of its continued growth and success.
Did you have any other career ambitions?
My route into law was far from planned. As a teenager I was convinced that I wanted to be a doctor, but science was never my strongest subject. Having been brought up at a naval boarding school, I briefly considered a career in the Royal Navy. Everything changed when I did some work experience at a local solicitor’s firm. It seemed like an interesting profession where no two days were the same and, more importantly to my 16-year-old self, every solicitor had their own office and stapler. My own office went may years ago but my enthusiasm for the profession has not.
What keeps you motivated in your work?
The relationships.
One of the great privileges of working in private client law is that you often become part of a family’s story. I work for clients who I have advised for many years and being trusted to help them through some of the most difficult moments in their lives is something I never take for granted. I am equally motivated by the people I work with. Some of my closest friends are my colleagues and I feel so lucky to be able to help junior lawyers develop their confidence and progress their careers.
What has been the best development in wills and probate in the last 20 years?
Without doubt, the increasing recognition of the value of private client work. When I started my career this area of work was often seen as a quieter corner of the profession – I remember doing wills for £45 and often they were done for free at the end of a transaction. Today, private client practitioners deal with complex family structures, tax issues, succession challenges, business interests and international assets. The work has become more varied and challenging and, in my view, more respected.
And the worst?
The ever-growing layers of administration and bureaucracy. While regulation undoubtedly has an important role to play, there are times when it can feel as though professionals and clients alike are spending more time navigating processes than solving problems.
If you could bring in one new piece of legislation for the sector, what would it be and why?
I would like to see legislation that properly modernises the law surrounding wills. Much of the framework we still rely on was developed in a very different world. Families, relationships and the way we live our lives have change significantly and the law should continue to evolve to reflect that reality while still protecting vulnerable people.
What piece of legislation would you take off the statute books and why?
I don’t think I would remove any one piece of legislation entirely, but I would happily simplify some of the inheritance tax provisions. Explaining them to clients can sometimes feel like explaining the offside rule to someone who has never watched football.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
Be yourself and be bold. In other words, have the confidence to put yourself forward, trust your judgement and don’t be afraid to do things your own way.
What advice would you like to give to someone just starting out?
Be resilient and keep going. Throughout your career you will meet people who will encourage and support you, but you will also encounter those who underestimate you, disagree with you or just make life harder than it needs to be. Don’t allow them to define your confidence or your ambitions. Stay true to your values, treat people well and keep going. Time always proves that resilience and consistency are far more powerful than negativity.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you…
I appear in the Ladybird Brownie Guidebook (1978) – copies are still available on most second-hand sites despite my grandmother buying many, many copies at the time!
If you’d like to appear in a profile, email press@todayswillsandprobate.co.uk with ‘Profile’ in the subject line.
