Irritating to many, but Sir Nigel has earned the honour

For a man who has made ignoring industry convention and irritating large chunks of his own profession hallmarks of his career, it’s fitting that Nigel Knowles should get half the City spluttering over their cornflakes with news of his knighthood.

The veteran DLA Piper chief joins a hyper-select band of solicitors to have received the honour; the last commercial ‘name’ to get the nod was ex-Linklaters partner Robert Finch in 2005 for City grandee duties. But Knowles’ elevation while still a full-time participant in the profession is so rare that the Cabinet Office couldn’t find another example of such an appointment for a commercial solicitor.

Of course, for those that find it hard to reconcile Knowles’ down-to-earth approach and earthy sense of humour with his newer status as a fully-fledged ambassador for commercial law, this will be bloody galling and a depressing start to an already depressing new year.

But even if he has occasionally got a tad too big for his boots, Knowles has undoubtedly been a great salesman for commercial law. Aside from this success in building a global law firm away from the model defined by large City practices, DLA Piper under Knowles has been one of the few firms to actively kick against the secondary status all too often handed to large commercial law firms.

Critics who claim DLA Piper and Knowles' successes are based on style over substance are also wide of the mark. Style has been a key element of the success of DLA Piper, but only the most deluded of rivals could believe that Knowles and his empire are all hot air. And if the profession is to get the credit that is due, it needs more figures like Knowles. In that respect alone he has genuinely fulfilled the ‘services to the legal profession’ criteria for his award.

And the good news for those that can’t stomach a profession entirely defined by Sir Nigel is that there is a range of impressive, forward-thinking leaders at major international law firms currently emerging, even if they haven’t yet managed to project their personalities and ideas with the same success as Knowles.

Still, I’ve got no intention of calling him ‘Sir Nigel’ next time I see him.