About Rubric Law
Be confident with our fresh and holistic legal expertise and business experience at Rubric.
Come for our corporate and commercial work. Stay for the enhanced real estate, employment and personal legal services. In a world of standardisation, Rubric speaks volumes with a reasonable and professional legal voice.
- Our advice is sound and effective – easily accessible with a total package that rivals larger firms.
- We do what we say – our guaranteed communication charter means you know what to expect from us and when.
- We celebrate the individual – encouraging dynamic relationships between our team and you.
- We relish a fresh challenge – every new journey is approached by drawing on our experience and skills.
At Rubric, we use leading legal software to deliver our services and keep us on track. We have a secure and easy to use client-friendly portal to encourage clear communication – between everyone.
If you’d rather use phone calls, apps, virtual meetings, emails or postal updates, that’s no problem. Whatever works for you, works for us.
Meet the team
James Howell
Managing Director, Head of Employment Law
James knew that a traditional law firm was not going to work for him. As a sociable, entrepreneurial person, James established Rubric to deliver approachable, engaging and unstuffy legal services: the way clients want.
His vision is a truly different legal advice service: one that hasn’t always got an eye on the clock and delivers more than just a document and a bill. A big biscuit fan, James enjoys nothing more than long walks on sunny days, playing guitar and watching his son play rugby and football.
Lisa Butcher
Head of Business Operations
Lisa joined Rubric in 2015 to support the office, part-time. Following numerous attempts to convince her to move full time, she did in 2020. Now head of business operations, she handles all things financial, HR and admin and is chief biscuit provider.
She loves walking and getting out at the weekend to see as much of the countryside as possible. Her goal in life is to be happy, find the positive in everything and retire to the North Devon coast, maybe climbing a few mountains along the way.
Sam Levene
Marketing Manager
With a degree in languages, Sam loves communicating with people and building relationships, allowing our legal team to do what they do best. As our Marketing Manager, he helps build our brand from its strong foundation of providing a great legal service with ethical values and a proven track record of authority and success.
In his spare time Sam enjoys spending time with his wife, dog, family and friends most of all. He also enjoys cycling, hiking, surfing on the South West Coast and plays both the piano and guitar. If you hear snoring on a call we can assure you it’s Sam’s dog – and not him!
Nick Middleton
Head of Real Estate
Moving from his role in the corporate & commercial team,
Nick now works in the real estate practice, working across a number of
transactional matters and assisting with corporate M&A matters. Nick brings
extensive knowledge of property conveyancing, private client and financial
litigation.
In his spare time, Nick plays football and almost manages to play tennis, squash and golf – every day is a learner. Aside from sport, Nick is passionate about embracing new technology and leveraging it to provide a unique legal experience.
Floris Nguema-Ngoye
Head of Commercial Law
A Fellow of CILEX, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, Floris is highly regarded for his work with waste management companies and global technology companies. He is also passionate about data protection and held the position of company Data Protection Officer. Floris joined Rubric Law in February 2022, bringing an extensive experience in commercial contracts including outsourcing agreements, master service agreements, data processing agreements and waste management agreements, etc.
Outside of work, Floris enjoys spending time with his family, his wife, two daughters, and son. He also loves running and meeting with friends and family, sharing a special meal from around the world.
Sophie McAuley
Paralegal
Sophie has worked internationally, with experience in magic circle law firms in Spain. She has also worked in house at Santander as a legal project manager. Her background is predominantly in finance and financial litigation, both in a legal and non-legal context. She particularly enjoys contentious work.
Sophie grew up in Madrid and speaks Spanish fluently. In addition she also lived in Italy for a short time and is currently learning Italian (mostly by way of cookery). She has a cocker spaniel called Poppy, who also lived in Spain and Italy and definitely misses the warmer weather!
Bailey Wearden
Paralegal
Bailey is a paralegal in the real estate department and assists on property transactions as well as corporate deals. Bailey completed his LPC in 2021 and is due to start working on his Masters dissertation soon. Starting out in his career, Bailey is keen to soak up as much knowledge as possible in order to deliver the best service to clients.
Outside of work, Bailey enjoys Thai Boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he also enjoys rugby, however he tends to mainly spectate nowadays. Away from sport, Bailey enjoys reading and taking in the great outdoors.
Nicholas Bridgewater
Paralegal
Nicholas joined Rubric as a paralegal in 2022. He graduated University in 2009 and completed an MA in Linguistics in 2010. He has experience working in the Middle East and the UK. As a career changer, he completed his Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) in 2021. He is also completing the Legal Practice Course (LPC), while beginning his career at Rubric.
Nicholas enjoys travelling, reading, and walking in the countryside. He has travelled to numerous countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and enjoys learning about new cultures, languages, and history.
Finlay Duignan
PARALEGAL
Finlay joined Rubric’s real estate department as a paralegal in 2022, with previous experience working in the mortgage department of another legal firm. He graduated University in 2021 and is looking to begin his LPC alongside working at Rubric Law to gain as much knowledge practical experience as possible.
Finlay loves to travel and dreams of one day visiting every continent in the world. He enjoys playing football and rugby locally as well as going to the gym to keep active outside of office hours. He loves dogs and can’t wait to get one of his own!
