When I moved to Hull from Sheffield at five my next-door neighbour was a just-born, [Linklaters partner] Alex Woodward – Woodie. A very good friend. Our mums and dads are very good friends. Went to the same schools, drank in the same pubs.
Woodie is super-smart, so he got a training contract at Linklaters, whereas I trained at Stamp Jackson & Procter in Hull.
I was always interested in criminal law. I had an uncle who wrote criminal factual books. As a kid I used to hang around with him and got interested in mass murderers. I was going to do a history degree but mum said: ‘What job are you going to get with that? Why don’t you do a law degree?’
My first mentor was Stuart Dench, who is now at Stewarts. We did a lot of PI work together. Still the smartest and most entrepreneurial lawyer I have ever worked with. Still a good friend.
Leeds was booming in the mid-1990s and I got a job on qualification at Eversheds, where I met Ian Bagshaw. Our boss was Ian Richardson, one of the most renowned leveraged buyout partners in the UK at the time. He took care of me because we are both from Hull.
Private equity wasn’t a choice, just what I always did. A great business to be in. You get amazing responsibility from clients to go off and transact on their behalf. It’s three or four deals in one. You buy something, look after portfolio companies when they are doing their add-ons, selling, hiring and firing management teams and then you should sell the business.
At Eversheds as a year-one qualified I acted for two founders of a business, which they sold to a US corporate. I was a lad from Hull on a train to London signing this deal that made a massive difference to their lives – they were so grateful for what our team had done for them. An eye-opener on what responsibility could feel like and how you could help people realise their ambition.
Ian [Bagshaw] and I did one of the Crompton Lighting buyouts. Absolute nightmare! Been on that all night, and driving home from Leeds to Hull, crashed my car. Sleep deprivation didn’t do much for me. But it’s routine when you’re an associate. We are required to do eight weeks’ work in four weeks. That’s the job.
It’s difficult when you separate from someone you have worked with, but time sorts things out. I had to do what was best for me and my family.
The choice of London was obvious: there is more of the work I do. I went to SJ Berwin because they were a great private equity firm. Always been a people person and I really liked Graham White. Linklaters was also an obvious move for me [when White moved there] – and history proved me right, because SJ Berwin is no longer with us and Linklaters always will be.
I remember getting my first BlackBerry at Linklaters – the first associate to get one. They gave me one when my first kid, Charlie, was born in 2003. Seeing it delivered felt like the greatest thing ever. Didn’t realise it meant I would be available 365 days of the year.
There were a number of factors in moving [to White & Case]: the increase in US private equity funds, the amount of US financing in transactions. And going to a US firm you typically get a pay rise and I had been divorced.
I spoke with Linklaters for a long time about leaving. They understood my business reasons to a degree and certainly understood my personal reasons. They were amazingly supportive, Charlie Jacobs in particular – he understood. I still see him at Barry’s Bootcamp in Moorgate. I catch up with Woodie for beers.
Linklaters is a great firm and I was just one partner. After Ian and I left, the private equity practice re-grouped – Woodie, Roger Johnson, David Holdsworth, Matthew Elliott. The bigger hit was when the second group left [for Kirkland & Ellis]. They would have got faith back, and then it gets destroyed again.
Magic Circle firms remain the real incubators of talent. But US firms reap the benefits. They’ve got so much more corporate firepower. There is a point in which having exposure to the US market, even if you are based in the UK, is a massive opportunity.
Our version of marketing has always been more hearty. I was out the other day for a pool tournament with HgCapital. I love pool. At Linklaters we organised a Bullseye night where we had legendary player Eric Bristow and lots of clients – table tennis nights, football matches.
Moving to Skadden Arps was an unbelievable opportunity. There’s no firm with a better reputation in what we do. Working with this group of people and the amazing brand to build up a more recognised private equity business was too good an opportunity. It’s very collegial.
Ian and I did eight years together. Massive respect for him, one of the biggest influences on my career – incredibly good deal guy, incredibly good at explaining the business of law. We still see each other at Chelsea games – I’m a Wednesday fan but take my kids to see Chelsea.
It’s difficult when you separate from someone you have worked with, but time sorts a lot of these things out. At the end of the day it’s a job and I had to do what was best for me and for my family.
Ian was fantastic. He took it on the chin and got on with dealing with the repercussions. There is a change because you move from a partnership to semi-being in competition with each other.
Skadden feels much more like an American firm in London. From a cultural point of view that was the biggest change in my career.
My associates see me as moody. I try to give them great opportunities, but I am painful to deal with.
People say the worst part of this job is client demands. But that’s what makes it interesting! Our job is fantastically simple. Ian made this point to me years ago: you’ve got a bunch of great people on one hand and a bunch of great clients on the other: our job is to put the two together. Spending time working with clients or developing your people, it’s a very inspirational job. Anything that does not relate to the team or clients makes it less enjoyable.
My associates see me as moody, which is about right. I try to give them great work, great opportunities to make a success for themselves and build a career. But I am painful to deal with, very direct in communication style, which I got straight from Graham.
When I became an associate I wanted to become a partner. A lot of people that were hired five-six years ago didn’t have the ambition in the same way. But around here you can see it again.
For the right people there will be opportunities within the law firm – the top 10%. You can’t afford to lose great talent so firms will find a way to be flexible to give those people opportunities. But also you will be quicker to learn if you are not in that group. There has been a big shift – there was at Linklaters, there was at White & Case and is here as well – to actively manage people’s careers so they always know where they are.
If I win the lottery I’ll obviously buy Sheffield Wednesday when I retire. If I don’t win the lottery I’ll get my running shoes out and do a few ultra-marathons. That’s been hard with four kids and the job.
This job does what it says on the tin: it’s hard work but fantastic experience, it gives you a great platform. But the minute you stop enjoying it you need to think hard about whether you should make the sacrifice to do this job.
It’s important to have mentors or people you respect because the secret of the enjoyment of the job is that you see yourself progressing.
You get a lot of moaning from people doing the job they signed up for. But if you’ve got a problem with working 2,000-plus hours, go do something else!
I’ve enjoyed every firm I have been at, met some amazing people and really enjoy what I’m doing. A lot of people in my position need to pinch themselves every now and again and say: ‘We are really lucky!’
marco.cillario@legalease.co.uk
Richard Youle is a corporate partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom