Board Members

Karl Chapman Chief Executive Officer

Karl is Chief Executive of Riverview Law and has a long pedigree in starting, growing and managing successful companies.

After reading law at Birmingham University, Karl joined Guinness Mahon Investment Management (GMIM) in 1985. In 1987 he was Money Observer’s top-performing UK unit trust fund manager.

He left GMIM in 1989 to set up CRT Group plc (CRT), a consultancy, recruitment and training business. Under Karl’s leadership his team grew CRT, both organically and by acquisition, to a market capitalisation of over £600 million, sales in excess of £400 million with 2,500 employees operating from over 200 locations. In 1996 CRT sold 50.1% of its equity for £109 million to Knowledge Universe, a private US head-quartered company.

Karl left CRT (which became Spring Group in the late 1990s) in 2000 and set up AdviserPlus Business Solutions in 2001. AdviserPlus is a leading advisory outsourcing organisation providing HR, and H&S solutions to organisations ranging from FTSE 100 companies to SMEs. Karl remained as owner and a non-executive until the sale of AdviserPlus in 2016.

Riverview Law acquired Kim Technologies (formerly CliXLEX) in September 2015. Kim is a Knowledge Automation and Workflow Platform applicable to all sectors and functions. Through its no-code configuration model Kim enables knowledge workers to take control of their critical business processes to improve decision making, speed and effectiveness. Kim does this utilizing its patent pending artificial intelligence, assimilation and data management capabilities Karl is Chairman of the Board of Kim Technologies. The Kim Technology powers the Riverview Law Virtual Assistants and is applicable across all sectors and functions, in any country.

Karl couples his passion for his family and business with a long-standing love of Chelsea Football Club where, over more than forty years, he has experienced the lows and highs that come with an irrational attachment to a football team.

Paul Bird Finance Director and Company Secretary

Paul is Riverview Law’s Finance Director, Company Secretary and our Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) . A highly motivated finance professional with natural commercial instincts, Paul has over 20 years’ experience across a range of demanding high-level and high profile business roles.

Paul joined Riverview Law in August 2012 from Pearson PLC, where he was Finance Director of its fast-growing international vocational education division, having joined Pearson following its acquisition of the AIM listed business EDI PLC of which Paul was Finance Director.

Paul’s previous experience includes being Finance Director of outsource divisions of FTSE listed companies and Virgin, successfully growing these businesses to a substantial size and or disposal.

As well as being a qualified accountant, Paul’s knowledge and background is heavily legal biased (he also holds a Master’s Degree in Law), this combined with his considerable experience of business process outsourcing and a MSC and MBA, makes him a valuable member of the Riverview Law team.

In addition to the day-to-day corporate financial management, Paul’s remit includes overseeing corporate governance and regulatory requirements, IT systems and infrastructure and structuring commercial bids/tenders. Paul also works closely with the Riverview Law management team in developing long-term contract solutions and pricing models for larger clients.

Paul says: “It’s an exciting time to be involved in the legal services market. My role at Riverview Law combines legal, commercial and financial skills, within a fast-moving and innovative business model. I couldn’t be more at home!”

Outside work, Paul has substituted teaching Aikido for playing golf (badly!) and is a long suffering Liverpool FC fan.

Steven Zdolyny Director of Legal Services

Steven Zdolyny is the Director of Legal Services at Riverview Law.

Steven’s role involves the management of an experienced and knowledgeable legal team who (together with Riverview Chambers) provide the legal advice to clients of Riverview Law.

Steven qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and worked in private practice for the first five years.

He joined the Environment Agency in 1996 and became Regional Solicitor for the North West region in 1998. Steven personally handled and led a team responsible for complex and high profile cases, including prosecutions of BNFL, Castle Cement and ICI; defending a £200m claim from United Utilities of national significance; dealing with a public inquiry into a Net Limitation Order; defending contentious judicial reviews and dealing with the press.

For the last 7 years, Steven was Director of Legal & Estates at the North West Development Agency (NWDA) and sat on the Executive Management Board. During this time he was responsible for over 50 staff comprising legal, estates, property, procurement, insurance, ICT/information management and governance teams across multiple locations and a £10m+ budget. In 2010, Steven’s Legal Team was awarded The Lawyer‘s ‘In-House Public Sector Team of the Year 2010’ award and he achieved ‘Highly Commended’ in the ‘In House Solicitor of the Year’ at the Law Society Excellence Awards 2010.

During his legal career he has gained significant experience and has managed and led the legal issues on many flagship projects, such as a £200m+ Regional Venture Capital and Loan Fund, unlocking finance for business in a difficult market. He dealt with 5000+ legal agreements and £2billion+ of commercial deals and transformational projects for the NWDA.

More recently, Steven played a critical role in the orderly closure of the NWDA with lifetime investments of circa £5billion, 10,000 projects, 500 staff, 3 million electronic records and 17 corporate subsidiaries. This involved the transfer of a significant and complex portfolio of property and other assets and liabilities, contracts, staff and records to multiple successor bodies. The work was praised by the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Business Innovation and Skills as a “significant achievement”.

Steven has considerable in-house, commercial and compliance experience. He has led the development and delivery of innovative and large scale commercial projects and investment funds across Europe and has a strong track record of success. Of his new role at Riverview Law he says:

“I am delighted to be part of Riverview’s exciting, dynamic and modern practice which has the customer at the centre of what we do. We have a highly committed team, using the latest technology to deliver first class legal services in a clear and cost-effective manner. ”

He lives in an art deco house in Cheshire and enjoys tennis, cycling and days out with his family.

Katy Robson Operations Director

Katy is Operations Director at Riverview Law, her remit being to ensure security, scalability and sustainability throughout the day to day operation of the business. In addition to overseeing the Legal Service Delivery, HR, Software Development and Office Management teams, Katy inputs into the strategic planning across Riverview Law’s managed service and technology solution portfolio.

Katy joined Riverview Law in 2011 and was instrumental in launching the business, building and securing a robust infrastructure from which to grow. Katy has over 15 years’ experience in operations, commercial development and product management and immediately prior to joining Riverview Law, she spent 10 years at Sage UK as Commercial Product Manager.

Katy is a highly motivated individual who thrives on meeting challenges head-on. Among colleagues and customers alike, she is noted for her superb organisational skills, her natural commercial instincts and her seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm.

With a passion for combining great technology with great service, Riverview Law is a natural environment for Katy; ‘we are a technology enabled business with deep legal domain expertise, and our people and culture are our differentiator’.

Katy is based in North West England, and also enjoys a good book, an accompanying glass of wine and spending time with family and friends.

Matthew Banks Customer Solutions Director

Matthew is Customer Solutions Director at Riverview Law.

Matthew’s role involves working with General Counsel and Heads of Legal, analysing the overall design of their legal advisory structure and modelling effective and efficient new solutions. He is also involved in overseeing the critical stages of project implementation and on-going client relationship management at a senior level.

Matthew has an impressive 20-year track record in legal services and is recognised as a pioneer of innovative service models. He started and lead Integreon’s market leading legal process outsourcing (LPO) business from 2006-2011, growing it to 600 lawyers in 8 locations in Europe, Asia and the US. He has significant experience working with the legal departments of many of the world’s largest corporations, delivering improved performance at significantly reduced cost. During his 7 years in the LPO sector he was based in Mumbai and New York.

Matthew is passionate about driving change in the legal market: “The exciting changes we are witnessing mirror the changes taking place in the wider business environment. There is a real appetite, particularly given the current financial climate, for new solutions to old challenges. That’s what Riverview Law is all about.”

Previously Matthew practised law for 10 years at Linklaters LLP then Eversheds LLP, as a commercial real estate solicitor working on high profile development projects.

Matthew has a degree in law from Oxford University. He lives in London with his family.

Sir Nigel Knowles Non-Executive Chairman

Sir Nigel Knowles is former Senior Partner and Global Co-Chairman of DLA Piper. Nigel has been Managing Partner of the International LLP since 1996 and in that time has led DLA Piper’s growth from a regional UK law firm to what is now the world’s largest global business law firm.

Globally, DLA Piper has a turnover in excess of £2bn with 4,200 lawyers located in more than 30 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

Adam Shutkever Non-Executive Director

Adam is a Non-Executive Director of Riverview Law, having previously been Chief Operating Officer. He has extensive senior management experience in the banking, investment and professional services sectors.

After reading Law at Clare College, Cambridge, Adam was called to the Bar in 1986, graduating top of the Bar Final examinations. In 1987 he joined SG Warburg’s Corporate Finance Division working in London and New York.

He joined Deutsche Bank in 1995 where he was a Managing Director specialising in mergers & acquisitions and equity capital markets business in the consumer and leisure sectors.

Adam joined Accord plc, a support services group with turnover of £285 million and over 3,500 employees, in 2002 as Chief Financial Officer. He led the sale of Accord in 2007 to Enterprise plc, a 3i-backed business.

In 2008 Adam became Managing Director of Palatium Investment Management, an FSA-regulated investment manager specialising in real estate and related debt investments. Adam joined Riverview Law in August 2011.

Adam says: “There’s never been a better time to be building a business in the legal market. Corporate customers are crying out for services built around their requirements, rather than the priorities of law firm partners. Our people, culture and systems underpin everything that we do, delivering a first class service to our customers.”

Adam is based in London and spends spare time with his family or on his bike – he is an enthusiastic amateur cyclist and recently completed the legendary 1,400km ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

David Charters Non-Executive Director

Having read Modern and Medieval Languages (German and French) at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, David joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, between 1983 and 1985, held various positions in HM Embassy Brussels. He joined SG Warburg in 1985 and became a Director and Head of Equity Syndicate.

He was involved in a number of floats and share issues including British Telecom, Euro Disneyland, Eurotunnel, Repsol, and Telmex. In 1995 David joined Deutsche Bank where he was initially the Global Head of Equity Syndicate and later Co-Head of Private Equity Principal investment. He became Managing Director of Equity Capital Markets and oversaw new equity issues across all markets including the flotation of amazon.com, Deutsche Telekom, e*trade, and France Telecom. David is a founder of Partner Capital where he oversees merchant banking activity, corporate finance advisory and principal investment projects.

He is also co-owner of D Group, one of the UK’s leading business networking organisations.