A Profile of Ian Gray

By student reporter, Oliver Scott

I was fortunate to sit down with Ian Gray, a member of the international executive team at Eversheds Sutherland and a Durham law graduate from the mid-1980s. Our conversation began with Gray’s time at Durham and the work experience that first drew him to the law. It moved through his training contract at Linklaters, his early career in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and his trajectory at Eversheds Sutherland from litigation partner to international leadership. We concluded with his views on the profession’s future and his advice for current Durham students. The article below follows this arc.

Durham

Gray chose Durham for its reputation. In the 1980s it was widely regarded as the principal alternative to Oxbridge, and Gray also knew the University was strong for sport. He was, in his words, “massively into sport,” playing rugby, cricket, golf, and anything else available to him. His family, originally from Northern Ireland, were living in Bradford at the time, so Durham being a couple of hours away felt right.

Choosing Law

Gray’s path into law began with a week of work experience at a small firm in Bradford at the age of sixteen. There were no lawyers in his family, but he spent time in the police cells with football hooligans and then accompanied them to court. He found it fascinating, and from that point on he was committed to a legal career, even though the work he ultimately pursued bore little resemblance to what he saw during the placement.

Career at Linklaters

Gray trained at Linklaters, having taken the step of moving to London with encouragement from the Durham careers department. In his third seat the firm posted him to Tokyo: only the second trainee it had ever sent there. He did not speak Japanese, and only one of the seven people in the office was fluent, but the experience proved transformative. Gray recalls that it broadened his perspective entirely and changed him forever. After qualifying, he spent three and a half years in London before a secondment to Hong Kong, where the legal system was at that time almost identical to England’s. He spent two and a half years there and nearly stayed for life, but for family reasons returned to the UK. He was clear, however, that he did not want to remain in London, and this led him to Eversheds, then a regional franchise of seven firms outside the capital.

Career at Eversheds Sutherland

At Eversheds, Gray’s practice took him into unfamiliar territory, including major public inquiries, interviewing civilians, police, army and politicians in the 1,700 witnesses for the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. He later worked on the Harold Shipman Inquiry, interviewing relatives of Shipman’s victims. Gray describes the work as harrowing at times but fascinating. He led the litigation practice group for seven years before joining the firm’s international executive team. Gray compares running a practice group to captaining a sports team: you earn the role through your performances on the pitch. At executive level, though, the demands are very different. Eversheds has since grown to span 35 countries, and Gray stresses that cultural awareness, adaptability, and communication are central when leading a firm which now comprises 900 partners and 6,000 people.

The 2017 US merger with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan was completed in just six months. Gray explains that both sides already had clear strategic plans: Eversheds wanted an American partner, and Sutherland, a strong domestic US practice, needed an international platform. An immediate rapport between the two leadership teams meant momentum built fast. Nine years on, Gray says it continues to go from strength to strength as Eversheds Sutherland.

The Profession’s Future

Gray observes that technology has already transformed litigation during his career: a discovery process that once took 12 weeks can now be completed in 12 hours. Eversheds Sutherland is currently rolling out Harvey, one of the leading legal AI platforms, having already deployed Microsoft Copilot across the firm. Yet Gray is cautious about the pace of change, citing the adage that we overestimate technology’s impact in the short term and underestimate it over the longer term. What clients ultimately want, he argues, is advice, sound judgment, and risk avoidance – and that is where the next generation of lawyers will increasingly focus. He also pushes back firmly on the suggestion that firms will need far fewer junior lawyers believing the profession will just deploy them differently.

Advice for Durham Law Students

Gray offers two pieces of guidance for current students. First, follow what genuinely interests you; there is no point conforming to what others think you should be doing, because you spend a great deal of time at work and it helps to enjoy it. Second, do not be too swayed by the profession’s traditional hierarchies. The old UK order of the Magic Circle and its tiers has shifted, and law is now a far more international world, with much driven from the US, with more opportunities than before. Work hard, he adds; it really does pay off.

Durham and Leadership

Asked whether anything at Durham shaped his approach to leadership, Gray points to captaining college cricket and rugby. Getting the right (or indeed enough) people onto the pitch is key. Coaxing a performance out of them taught him skills of persuasion he still relies on — knowing when to push harder and when to cajole. The parallel to business, he says, is direct: you have to build the right team and then get them to perform. Gray rounds off with a broader reflection on Durham’s place in his life. His seven closest friends were all met in his first year at the University; they all returned in September 2025 for their 40th anniversary as freshers. Durham, he says, really does shape the rest of your life.

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Ian Gray for giving so generously of his time and for such a candid and enjoyable conversation.