Latham & Watkins partner Oliver Felsenstein is widely regarded as one of the world’s pre-eminent private equity lawyers, acting as trusted counsel for clients including Hg Capital, Carlyle and CVC. He has chaired the firm’s global PE practice, served as German managing partner, and now advises the firm’s executive committee. He sat down with LB to reflect on decades of dealmaking and his plans for retirement
People don’t tend to believe this, but one of the reasons I wanted to become a lawyer was after watching The Godfather. I was fascinated by Robert Duvall’s role as Tom Hagen, the personal lawyer of Don Corleone who I thought had the coolest job – a consigliere with only one client. So, I decided I wanted to become a lawyer like him. Obviously I failed. But I never wanted to be a judge or anything else – I wanted to be a lawyer at a business firm.
