I’m the fifth of six children. By child five, your parents are very relaxed. You can do what you want! I grew up in a small town in Ireland. I was trying to decide whether to do law or medicine and two sisters were junior doctors, working through the night. I thought: ‘That looks hard – I’ll become a lawyer!’ Some irony there.
I went to work for Andersen Consulting for two years. I really enjoyed it but thought I would be better at law. So I went and did the New York Bar but couldn’t get a job in any of the big firms so I came back to London. It was easier to get a job in London in 1990.
I joined Linklaters as a trainee in 1992. Matthew Middleditch was one of the first partners I worked with. He’s a person his clients love and the people on the other side like as well. You get the best results by not banging the table.
‘When could I hope to be considered for partnership?’ I asked in a meeting with Andrew Peck and Brigid Rentoul. I was a five-year associate. Brigid just laughed and Andrew looked taken aback!
I made partner in 2001. We got the phone call on St Patrick’s Day. The partners meeting is always on a Saturday and you get called by the senior partner. I was hoping! I didn’t have a mobile phone back then so I was waiting anxiously by the home phone. I remember my mother ringing and shouting at her: ‘No, I haven’t heard yet – get off the line!’
It wasn’t a long conversation. You just want to hear those magic words from the senior partner. Charles Allen-Jones called me and said: ‘Congratulations, we’d like to welcome you to the partnership.’ I remember thinking ‘YAYYYYYYY’ in my head but then just saying: ‘Thank you very much.’
The best deals are the ones where you have fun. One deal where we had a formidable chief executive and the documents came in close to crunch point. He opens the document and lets out this huge bellow. Twenty people were in the room – everyone thinking: ‘Oh, no! What’s wrong with the draft?’ There was a spider on the table and he had arachnophobia.
I looked at the speedometer – going 65mph and felt very proud – but got such a fright I came off the bike! All I could think was: ‘I’ve got three kids – this is not what I should be doing.’
There was a tricky negotiation during a big conference call and our client goes: ‘We are on mute aren’t we? I’m disappointed this is taking such a long time; Mr X is such an intelligent person.’ People were waving their arms to say we weren’t on mute. He then pressed mute and said: ‘I know.’ Worked very nicely.
I remember a chief executive saying to me: ‘You work exceptionally hard – what are you aiming for?’ It was a great question. It made me think. It’s good to stand back and work out goals on a regular basis as then you feel great when you achieve them.
I have three tips. Prioritise what matters in work and your personal life as then you are more likely to feel you have succeeded. Try to be positive, it’s very exhausting for everyone around you if there is too much cynicism. And keep perspective, as there are two ways to look at everything. Focus on the opportunities.
I try hard to have a work-life balance but there’s room for improvement. I have three boys – 13, ten and seven – so it’s important that you’re there for the things that matter. Most clients are very accommodating about important events. With hindsight, I cancelled a whole load of important things unnecessarily. I remember a client being horrified I’d cancelled something because of a deal.
I came off my bike in South Africa when I did the Cape Argus race in 2013. I looked at my speedometer – and was very proud going 65mph – but got such a fright I came off the bike! It was Mother’s Day and all I could think was: ‘I’ve got three kids – this is not what I should be doing!’
I had a bad cut on my knee but was thinking: ‘I’ve come all this way. I am finishing the race!’ I got back on the bike but couldn’t understand why I was going so slow. I’d buckled the wheel so struggled 10km to the repair stop. Back to work on Monday with six stitches in my knee. Rather proud of that.
Disruption is the new black. We need to be constantly challenging ourselves to look at ways we can do things more efficiently and effectively. That’s what lawyers need to focus on.
I’ve never been any good at it, but I’ve always loved sport. I loved basketball in school and everyone used to find that very funny because I’m extremely small but I wasn’t deterred!
The basketball stigma continues… I played recently with my son and I thought I could do a layup and score but it still isn’t happening! If only I’d been 6ft 3 instead of 5ft 3. I’m still trying.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
Aedamar Comiskey is global head of corporate at Linklaters