I acquired through reading an interest in justice and the role law could play. One book I read in my late teens was influential. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by American journalist and author Peter Matthiessen. Written in 1983 about an individual who was part of the American Indian Movement called Leonard Peltier. He happens to still be in jail 45 years later, in what this book would tell you was a major miscarriage of justice. It profoundly affected me. The idea that law could be a force for good attracted me to the legal system.
I was predisposed to arguing. I found it interesting to pursue the right answer through discussing it with people. Constructive arguing rather than arguing in a teenager-y sort of way. I made the connection that actually the two things played into each other. I was possibly a little bit idealistic.
I was once refused unemployment benefits on the basis that I was unavailable for work. I took the job centre to tribunal. I got a pat on the head from the chairman of the tribunal who said it was very well argued, but I lost. I wanted to get to the heart of things and really understand them. That desire to find rational explanations I have carried with me. I am now a disappointed rationalist because I understand that finding the best, rational explanation for something doesn’t typically change people’s minds.
I studied law at university with economics, but eventually became a law graduate. I had to make a choice of what sort of law to get involved in. I had no connections with the City at all – far from it – but corporate law seemed to be a way in which to combine my interest in economics and business with law.
My fantasy answer to what career I’d have if not for law is oceanographer. I’m interested in nature and like the sea. The real answer is something that I came close to doing, which was managing bands. I was interested in music and hung out with the right crowds. For a while, that was an option although, the fact that I became a lawyer suggests I wasn’t that successful!
I try to inspire people to be the best they can. I know that sounds like modern woo-woo, but I try to lead by example while imposing responsibility on them. I’m big on making people push themselves. There’s a tendency in our profession, but also in current times, to spoon-feed people and think that they’re not capable. My experience is that’s completely untrue. If you give people an opportunity, they will exceed your expectations 99 times out of 100.
People should focus on being good first. The good lawyering will come. Being a lawyer is a communication job. A lot of people approach it as an analysis job, but it isn’t really. The real differentiator is your ability to communicate both orally and in writing in a way that people can understand. This means the ability to simplify things which are complicated and identify what’s important. All of those things are much easier if you’re a well-rounded human being.
I do lots of things outside my profession, including a lot of work in the voluntary sector. Those things make you realise that the law is a narrow tool and most of the world gets by without legal assistance. Sitting on boards with people from a range of backgrounds makes you understand that this is just one way of earning a living. That’s helpful.
Thereʼs a tendency in our profession, but also in current times, to spoon-feed people and think that theyʼre not capable. My experience is that’s completely untrue.
A lot of people join the profession with a determination to have an impact; make a difference. You come into a City law firm and it’s all about the system and how you can be more effective at producing outcomes for clients. You lose sight of what made you interested in the first place – there’s no time for it in a busy working life. As I’ve got older and found more time to think, I’ve come back to the idea of justice being inspiring.
Through my career I’ve reinvented myself every few years. I’ve done lots of different things: telecoms, media, radio and TV work, corporate and M&A, private equity. I did Brexit for five years, now I’m doing sustainability. Part of that is because I’m easily bored, but it’s also about thrashing around and trying to find purpose in what I’m doing.
Someone who inspires me is António Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN. He said that the people who are advocating for the status quo are the dangerous radicals, at a time when businesses and society need to go through radical transformation, to avoid imminent threats to our way of life. When I hear somebody like that, who is really challenging the status quo, the interesting challenge for me is – what is the role of the law firm in doing that?
Our greatest impact is what we can help our clients achieve. How we can help the businesses which are our clients take on that role of transformer? People approach this as something to be frightened or wary of, but it’s a massive opportunity for all business, including professional services and law firms. If you can just have the courage to say: ‘We’re going to pin our hat to the mast of the future, rather than continue to be part of the system that protects vested interests or the status quo.’ It’s a big existential question.
I grew up at a time when the apogee of the legal profession was the swashbuckling M&A lawyer, but that’s an artefact. Nobody is going to recall the M&A transactions I’ve worked on, but somebody might recall the impact I’ve had or the difference I’ve made. That’s a choice that individual lawyers, let alone law firms, need to focus on.
I’ve developed the fine art of being provocative to encourage people to engage in difficult decisions. I fully appreciate that’s a luxury attached to my age. I’m not having to invest quite as much as I once did in my own career and security. Some might say: ‘Well, it’s easy for you to say these things.’ Of course it is, but that doesn’t mean they’re not true.
I grew up at a time when the apogee of the legal profession was the swashbuckling M&A lawyer, but thatʼs an artefact. Nobody is going to recall the M&A transactions Iʼve worked on, but somebody might recall the impact Iʼve had.
After decades of being lost in the system, one of the cogs in the wheel of the industry, one of my greatest achievements is to have emerged with an understanding of what’s going on and a desire to change things.
The big businesses that are trophy clients today may not be in the future. Law firms need to ask themselves: ‘What services are we going to need to provide? What resources do we need? What capacity do we need to stay relevant?’
Clients are looking to see their values reflected in the people they work with. That’s going to progressively shake up the professional services world. That poses a challenge to the tradition of neutrality. Some of the sacred cows of the legal profession, phrases like ‘access to justice’ and ‘rule of law’ which are rolled out in defence of the profit motive, rather than as principles which really apply to commercial law firms.
Clients are an indirect regulator for us. We have to respond to what they need and what they want us to provide. They’re influential. In recent years, we’ve seen huge input from our clients about diversity and inclusiveness; how they saw it as hugely important to their own position to ensure that the people they were working with were also doing what they can. That was significant.
The other end of the same issue is providing people coming into the profession with meaningful work. There’s an increase in people’s desire to align personal and professional values. The most competitive aspect of the market is recruitment and talent. What is it that you can offer that makes people feel that they’re combining their work with making a difference to society?
The idea of exclusively office-bound working has been consigned to history. It’s not viable to say: ‘Unless you’re in the office, you’re not working.’ Those people with high profiles saying those things are talking utter nonsense. Productivity in this place increased dramatically during the pandemic. In fact, it resulted in a major uplift in the overall sense of trust in one another because we had to. Funnily enough, it all worked fine. It gives employees great choice. The approach that employers have towards remote working will become a differentiator as well. Obviously, I wish we hadn’t had the pandemic, but are there some good things that came from the working experience? Absolutely.
I am the chairman of an educational charity. I was chair of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, chair of the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development. I participate in various policy forums around sustainability.
I spend a lot of time watching my children playing football and cricket. I’ve got five children and one dog.
The Engineer of Human Souls by Josef Škvorecký is the most fantastic book you could ever imagine.
The Look of Love, sung by Dusty Springfield and written by Burt Bacharach. Every time I hear it, I think: ‘My god, that lady had the most fantastic voice.’ It is the most evocatively romantic song. I did once have a beer in the pub with Robert Plant – so he’s also one of my favourites.
Jeff Twentyman is the head of sustainability and leads the private equity group at Slaughter and May
Photographer: Juan Trujillo