Brodies’ Nick Scott on family commitments, returning to university, and building Scotland’s first £100m firm

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Brodies’ Nick Scott on family commitments, returning to university, and building Scotland’s first £100m firm

I’m the only one in my immediate family who isn’t a scientist – they’re all biologists and engineers. My grandfather, though, was a lawyer in a small market town in Fife so I’d always been interested in law as a career. He was a traditional high street lawyer – doing very little corporate work – so training at Clifford Chance (CC) was a completely different professional life from his. But from him I saw someone who was regarded as an upright person in the community.

I began my career at CC which, at the time, was the biggest firm in the world. I came to London to follow my then girlfriend who was a professional violinist, but we’d split up by the time I got there! I wanted the experience and challenge of working in a huge organisation. Continue reading “Brodies’ Nick Scott on family commitments, returning to university, and building Scotland’s first £100m firm”

Life During Law: Scott Hopkins

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Life During Law: Scott Hopkins

When I was 18 I left Vancouver to play ice hockey in university in Japan. That got me off on kind of an adventurous track. I grew up dreaming of nothing more than becoming a hockey player. When you try to do that in Canada, you work your way up through the junior leagues. And the junior leagues are tough. You leave home and you go live in a small town, and the hockey team is sort of the centre of life in those towns. You become a minor celebrity. But it’s tough. Not many people make it. There are three levels of junior hockey in Canada, and when you get to the very top level you can be classed as a professional, which means you’re ineligible for university scholarships. I got up close to that level and I had a good look at it and I wasn’t convinced that I was going to make it. I didn’t want to take the risk of dedicating my life to that. So I decided to go for a university education, to at least get something out of all that time playing hockey.

I decided to become a lawyer so I would have more control over my working life than I would have had if I had gone into foreign relations. I did politics as an undergraduate in London. I came to the UK in 1994. As far as I got down the politics line was interning for the Member of the European Parliament who was the special rapporteur for EU-Japan economic relations. I got to spend some time in the circus that is the EU, moving that circus back and forth between Brussels and Strasbourg. It was interesting, certainly. But I just didn’t feel that I could make an impact in that world.

Continue reading “Life During Law: Scott Hopkins”

A&O’s Wim Dejonghe on mergers, money and his plans for life after law

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A&O’s Wim Dejonghe on mergers, money and his plans for life after law

I wanted to go into sports. I was a sailing instructor, close to professional. But then I had knee issues, so I needed to change my plans last minute. I still do a lot of exercise, but I hate the gym. That’s how I relax, reflect, enjoy myself, and get energy. I do a lot of sport with my sons, who are all into sailing, biking, jogging, and skiing. I can still keep up with them on the bike, but in skiing I have no chance!

I never planned to be a lawyer. When I started my law course I focused on international public law – the United Nations, NATO and international treaties. I wanted to be a diplomat but there are two issues with being a diplomat in Belgium: one is that you need political connections, and the other is that you’re not so relevant in the international diplomatic community. I worked as an assistant professor at a university but found it a bit too quiet. So, I decided to do a trainee internship as a lawyer, and never stopped. At the time I went into law, we were still obliged to do military service. I did six months in a law firm while I was waiting to get called up, then I went back to the firm after my time in the army, and technically I haven’t changed firms since. It wasn’t by design – it was more the elimination of other options.

Continue reading “A&O’s Wim Dejonghe on mergers, money and his plans for life after law”

Life During Law: Richard Lever

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Life During Law: Richard Lever

The Godfather is a great film. Tom Hagen was a bit of an inspiration. There’s that scene where he turns up at the hospital where the Godfather is staying with all these private detectives, and he deals with the police. Then there’s another part where he says: ‘I have a special practice. I handle one client. Now you have my number. I’ll wait for your call.’ That kind of power, that kind of control was inspiring.

I quit studying law after a year. I switched to history and politics because there were a lot of hours in the classroom doing law. After university, I travelled and taught English abroad. My girlfriend at the time wanted to come back to the UK as she had a job lined up as an accountant, so I came back with her. I would have been happy staying a teacher. One of the things I applied for was law school and I ended up doing the conversion course. The rest is history. Continue reading “Life During Law: Richard Lever”

Life During Law: Natasha Luther-Jones

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Life During Law: Natasha Luther-Jones

When I was 12, I was a competitive swimmer, and I used to swim every morning before school. If you’re swimming that much, your swimsuits get see-through, so for training, sometimes you’d have to wear double swimsuits, and that’s a bit of a drag when you’re in a competition. I’d asked my mum for a new swimsuit, but she said I would have to wait till the end of the month. I asked her how I could become rich to be able to afford a new one. She said: ‘You can become a solicitor, or you can marry someone rich.’ So, from then on, my decision was made to become a lawyer.

I got work experience in a small solicitors’ firm on our high street in Bangor, North Wales, and was focused on doing a law degree. I knew it was very competitive to get a training contract, so I did law and French. Then I got a training contract with Garretts, part of Andersen Legal. Six months into my training contract, DLA took the Leeds office, I transferred, and 23 years later I’m still here! Continue reading “Life During Law: Natasha Luther-Jones”

Life During Law: Sandra Paul

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Life During Law: Sandra Paul

I head up our criminal defence and police investigations team as well as our sexual misconduct in the workplace practice. I am interested in people, and I guess I am a nosey person.

I decided to become a lawyer because I wanted to have my own voice. In my twenties, I was a team leader in a child protection social services team. I would have done an assessment, done the work, known the family, thought I had made good decisions, but then it would get reinterpreted a couple of times for me. The legal department would say ‘this is what you mean’, then the barrister would say ‘this is what the legal department have told me that you mean’. I thought: ‘Actually – maybe I can say what I mean.’ These people were doing a job that I knew was hard, but nowhere near as hard as turning up to these families’ homes and making decisions about their children. So, I decided to do the conversion and see what would happen. I didn’t know if it would be for me, as I am not the usual type of person that becomes a lawyer. Continue reading “Life During Law: Sandra Paul”

Life During Law: Georgia Dawson

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Life During Law: Georgia Dawson

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I was growing up. I went through periods of thinking maybe I’d become an architect. There’s also this amazing magazine in Australia called Gourmet Traveller. It’s about food and travel, and I thought it would be quite nice to be a journalist for them. I still enjoy looking at architecture and I love the built environment, food, and travel.

I had a conversation with the career counsellor at school. She said, if you’re not sure, then law is a great general degree that gives you options for the future. My dad happens to be a lawyer as well, so I had some familiarity with the law. When I started the degree, I still wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do but I really enjoyed it. I loved the problem solving. Continue reading “Life During Law: Georgia Dawson”

Life During Law: Simon Beswick

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Life During Law: Simon Beswick

I’m one of three brothers. My middle brother David has just retired as partner of Eversheds. Ever since we were young lads he wanted to be a lawyer, so I had that echo going on.

I chose economics, accountancy, politics and law at A-Level. I really enjoyed the politics but also found the law a lot more interesting than the accountancy. I decided off the back of that to do law at uni and that carried on into a career. I believed I’d be a lawyer for no more than two or three years, and use it as a stepping stone to go into business. Continue reading “Life During Law: Simon Beswick”

Life During Law: David Patient

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Life During Law: David Patient

My father was a consultant obstetrician, his brother was an accountant, but I was rubbish at science and didn’t like maths. I was pushed down this corridor – ‘why don’t you do law?’ I knew absolutely nothing about it and no-one in our family had been a lawyer.

Some of my best friends still are people I met at university. A lot of them have gone off to do other things but one of them who has remained a close friend from the very first evening we met is a senior corporate partner at Allen & Overy, Richard Hough. Really lovely guy. Continue reading “Life During Law: David Patient”

Life During Law: Anu Balasubramanian

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Life During Law: Anu Balasubramanian

I come from a family of lawyers. My father was a lawyer and a judge, and my brother followed in his footsteps and became a lawyer. So there was a lack of original thought on my part. I just went with the flow and followed them into the profession.

I was born and brought up in India. I went to school there and did my first degree there, in history. When I was at university, law was rarely done as an undergraduate degree and that programme has only just been introduced. When I finished my first degree, I followed in my brother’s footsteps and came to the UK to read law. Continue reading “Life During Law: Anu Balasubramanian”