It’s been a long career. I’m amazed at being here 27 years. People think that must be dull but I’ve had time abroad as a trainee in New York, in management in the Middle East, on secondment at the Takeover Panel. I don’t regret any of it.
My director of studies at university recommended I apply to [then] Coward Chance. As soon as they announced the merger, he called me back in and said: ‘You mustn’t go there, they’re merging. I recommend another Magic Circle firm.’ I said no because I went to CC on a summer student scheme. The spirit of the place and desire to take on the leaders made me want to join.
Kevin Ingram is a peer of mine. Not many of my peer group are still here. People think it was easier then to become partner but it was only five of every 120 that made it. I was at school with Stephen Lloyd – he was two years below me. He looks exactly the same. I have made so many bad calls about people who have rocketed to the top and become extremely successful.
It was more fun back then. That’s partly based on technology – you had a lot of interaction with people and you didn’t sit at your desk. Adam Signy and David Pearson would come into the office and say: ‘It’s quiet today, let’s all go and play golf.’ We would just disappear for the afternoon and no-one could contact you. It’s fun today but you’re more permanently available, which can be stressful.
The eventual collapse of the Barclays/ABN AMRO transaction took eight months. It was the most intensive period of my career: not one day off for eight months. At the end of that rollercoaster, which involved nearly every office at the firm, Barclays decided to pull out of the deal. That was a good day because it was the end of a relentless slog and the client made the right decision for them but I also thought about all the time spent. As a lawyer, you have to get used to the fact that you invest so much and it can all be over immediately.
The Kraft/Cadbury deal remains my most special deal. It was high-profile and controversial. The excitement, the involvement of key players, was fantastic. It ended with myself and the chief executive of Kraft, Irene Rosenfeld, checking into a suite at The Lanesborough. I was a junior partner and she was a few years older than me. I’m sure it looked odd. We met with the chief executive of Cadbury, Sir Roger Carr and his lawyer, Steve Cooke from Slaughter and May. The four of us sat in the hotel room and hammered out the final details. That was an exciting career moment.
Another amazing situation came right before the Lehman collapse. We were due to be taking a number of partners and associates from CC and some of the Barclays team to go motor racing at Thruxton. On the Thursday, the general counsel rang and said: ‘We’re going to buy Lehman over the weekend.’ I said: ‘You do realise we have your entire legal team down here tomorrow morning for racing?’ He replied: ‘Do the racing, check the conflicts on this deal and get back to Churchill Place as soon as you can after lunch.’
We showed up in jeans and t-shirts with oil in our hair and spent all Friday night and Saturday working. At 3am on the Sunday morning, I have the deal sorted and the chair of Lehman walks in and says: ‘It’s not going to happen.’ We went home and Lehman went down on Monday. I look back and think: ‘God, none of us realised at that point that it was the beginning of the rest of time.’ The collapse was so special – in a funny, perverse way – being in the room when it happened is something I’ll never forget.
Anyone who thinks you can combine the role I have with full or even part-time fee earning is wrong. I work longer hours now than I ever have in my career.
We suffered more than others post-Lehman by having such a strong finance practice. When the banks contracted and the work they threw at us shrunk, we were disproportionately affected. We came through it pretty strongly. What is overlooked is our finance and corporate practices are nearly identical in size. One beats the other by a few hundred pounds every year at close.
You need a combination of skills to be a quality dealmaker – technical excellence is the boring starting point but it’s the extra bits that make a great dealmaker. It’s about people skills, having empathy, reading people and understanding what they’re looking for, reading a situation, working with other advisers and collaborating.
You get the big beasts who love the battlefield sense of a deal. I love that too – the satisfaction of getting it done especially when it’s been difficult. But not everyone needs to be like that. You get some phenomenal lawyers who are more discreet and don’t need to dance on the table or bang their fists. They’re just as effective.
David Pearson and Matthew Layton are exceptional. Outside CC, I respect Steve Cooke hugely. He has fantastic client-handling skills. People who collaborate well with the opposition achieve far more than those who are adversarial. Will Lawes at Freshfields is a class act: low key and an incredibly nice guy.
Adam Signy inspired me during my career. I was his trainee. He’s not arrogant, very bright, a delightful character. I wanted to be like him. I don’t know if I got close, but that was always the aim.
Management takes me away from fee-earning, no question. That’s the downside. Anyone who thinks you can combine the role I have with full or even part-time fee earning is wrong. I work longer hours now than I ever have in my career. It’s seven days a week pretty much; you have to be disciplined about not being attached to your BlackBerry. You’re handling so many different things and constantly assessing, juggling and reprioritising things flying at you.
A taxi driver said I was the only the second person out of 30 he’d taxied to say that I’d vote Remain. That’s when I got worried.
I do a lot of client-side things. Having an internal-facing management role would not be of interest to me. I love leading pitches and looking after relationships.
US firm hiring is still something we need to be aware of, I don’t think it’s going away. The intensity has eased a little but not materially. There are a handful principally with a private equity focus. That will continue.
We need to make working here attractive and offer good prospects. Even when we don’t match the pay, we need people to see other benefits. The balance between financial reward, culture and international experience is still important to our clients.
I love travel. My wife and I plot years ahead where we’ll go. Every year we go on a walking holiday – hiking in hills in high places.
I do a lot of gardening. I used to do a lot with my tractor when I owned 20 acres. I wasn’t a farmer and they weren’t my sheep. But I worked with other people at weekends stomping around in my wellies. People don’t believe I own wellies. Now I just have a patio.
Our business is hedged well in terms of practice and currency. We need to wait and see where the balance of the work is. I’m happy to be in this firm at this point in time.
I want to do this role again. Afterwards I would like one more role in CC, maybe management or working overseas again. The US is a major priority; I spend a lot of my time there. I’m working on building it out.
Always put yourself in the shoes of your client. It’s easy to push stuff out the door without thinking what’s on the receiving end of your behaviour.
A taxi driver asked me which way I would vote on Brexit. When I said Remain, he said I was the only the second person out of 30 he’d taxied to say that. That’s when I got worried. The sheer complexity of what is involved and the tensions between what we want to achieve; I worry some of this isn’t yet fully appreciated. There’s a degree of naivety or optimism on the part of politicians on where it will end up. But this country always picks itself up and I hope it will do it again.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
Guy Norman is global head of corporate at Clifford Chance