LB’s inaugural feature on 50 legal veterans who have launched high-flying second careers. Claire Smith reports on why law’s loss is business’s gain

Tim Clark, the universally admired senior partner of Slaughter and May, will finally hand over the leadership reins next year after an extended seven-year term. But rather than return to full-time practice, Clark expects to leave the firm. The question is, what will he do next?

Like Peter Cornell at Clifford Chance and Tony Angel at Linklaters, Clark is considering his options after years at the pinnacle of a private practice legal career. And the job offers don’t always flood in thick and fast – solicitors are rarely top of the list when headhunters seek to fill plc board roles, for example. It is also unusual to see former partners at the helm of regulatory bodies or active in the public sector. But it’s not all doom and gloom for the over- 50s seeking second careers, as the first Legal Business ‘Fifty over 50 shows. Amongst its number are former partners who have made it as chairs of plcs and charities, private equity professionals, investment bankers and consultants. The list includes peers, knights and CBEs. As Sir Robert Finch, the chairman of FTSE 100 property company Liberty International, says: ‘At 61, I was comfortably the oldest person to retire from Linklaters in recent years, and most of my colleagues had left the City. I think that’s a tragedy – there are senior people with huge ability in these law firms, who are being lost to business.’ The following 50 profiles should give Clark et al food for thought.

 CHARLES ALLEN-JONES

Non-executive director, Caledonia Investments
Former senior partner, Linklaters
Charles Allen-Jones, 67, was a partner in Linklaters for 33 years, and was senior partner for five years until 2001. He is now a non-executive director of Caledonia Investments, the London Stock Exchange-listed investment trust company, and sits on the board of Hongkong Land Holdings. He is also a member of the Financial Reporting Council and the Council of the Royal College of Art.

 PATRICK BIGNON

Founder, Law Management Consulting
Former managing partner, Andersen Legal
Patrick Bignon, 59, was managing partner of the Andersen Legal network from 1999, and a board member of Andersen Worldwide. In 2002, when Andersen joined Ernst & Young in France, Bignon took responsibility for the worldwide EY Law network. In 2005, he set up Law Management Consulting to advise law firms and corporate legal departments on strategy. He says: ‘It’s booming, and I’m very happy.’