Simone Hughes is Smart & Biggar’s Head of Growth and Client Strategy, focused on strengthening how the firm earns, deepens and grows relationships with clients and foreign referral partners seeking a trusted, high‑performing Canadian IP partner.
She is known for turning revenue goals into repeatable growth systems, bringing clarity and operating discipline to the drivers that move results, including retention, recovery, expansion, acquisition, alternate revenue opportunities and the loyalty multipliers of client experience and brand trust.
For her US‑based peers, Simone helps make Canada easier and more predictable by supporting clear relationship ownership, service consistency across teams, stronger feedback loops and practical collaboration models that enable reciprocity‑based cross‑border growth.
She brings senior leadership experience across global and complex professional services environments, having led marketing, communications and business development modernization initiatives and advised leaders on the responsible adoption of AI‑enabled workflows and governance‑aligned operating models.
At Smart & Biggar—widely recognized as a leader in the Canadian IP space—Simone supports a platform designed for sophisticated cross‑border needs, combining deep technical strength, high‑volume operational excellence, and an integrated approach across IP prosecution and litigation.
As part of a global IP services network operating across 26 IP jurisdictions, Simone also contributes to relationship‑led growth that supports coordinated international IP strategies for clients and partner firms.
Speaking & Insights
Simone Hughes’ thought leadership centers on how law firms translate strategy into sustainable growth. Her current areas of focus include:
- From Revenue Levers to a Growth System: Unlocking hidden value in law firms
- The Hidden Economics of Referral Relationships: Why goodwill doesn’t scale—and systems do
- Why Law Firms Struggle to Convert Strategy into Growth: What disciplined firms do differently
- Pricing Is Not a Number—It’s a Signal: How value conversations shape growth, trust, and margins
- From Support Function to Growth Engine: The evolving role of marketing and business development leadership in modern law firms