Client profile: Paul van Reesch, Coca-Cola Enterprises

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The soft drink giant’s top European lawyer talks about value and facing pressure from the sugar lobby.

As a young man six months into his European travels, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) legal chief Paul van Reesch realised he literally had a cent to his name.

Fortunately he was offered a job as a temporary lawyer at CCE and never needed the funds to move back home to Australia. Now he’s worked for the soft drink giant’s UK manufacturing and distribution business for more than a decade.

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Life During Law: Stephen Wilkinson, Herbert Smith Freehills

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My summer holidays were spent licking envelopes at my parents printing factory in Hemel Hempstead. My parents were an odd mix, my mum an Italian immigrant and my father as English as they come. They were very keen that I have a profession as they wanted something better for their kids. The business is still in the family.

I learnt classical guitar as a kid. Every time I got to the next grade, a bit like a dog getting a treat, I got a guitar. I had a room full of guitars in my late teens. My Fender Stratocaster is one of my most prized possessions. They end up getting used more by my daughter now.

I was crazy about basketball as a kid and toured with the England youth teams. Nowadays I wouldn’t get anywhere near a team – I’d need to be twice as big.

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Client profile: Sarah Davis, Guardian Media Group

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The media lawyer talks about the diversity of London’s workforce and the handling of that Snowden story.

When interviewing for the client profile, in-house counsel will often list a slew of generic corporate M&A deals when citing what they consider ‘interesting work’. Guardian Media Group (GMG)’s longstanding group commercial legal director, Sarah Davis, is an exception to this.

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Perspectives: Mark Howard QC

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When I came to the Bar I didn’t know anybody, but fortunately got introduced to Tom Bingham and I was his marshal during my pupillage for about six weeks. He was a very inspiring figure. He was quite a junior judge then but he had tremendous insight. I was only with him for six weeks but he’s the person I’ve learnt the most from.

At that stage I liked the sound of my own voice too much. The problem at the Bar is that you’re always arguing a corner, it’s very difficult in your personal life. My wife always says ‘stop cross-examining me’.

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Perspectives: Emmanuel Gaillard

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In a small resort called La Féclaz in the Alps, a lawyer was sitting next to me in the restaurant telling stories about criminal law. I said then: ‘That’s what I’m supposed to do.’ I was just going through the motions before that and being made miserable by studying maths.

I spent two summers at Rockefeller Plaza being a New York lawyer when I was 30 at a two-partner law firm called Layton & Sherman. They were typical New Yorkers… always in pinstripe suits! I had never been to Manhattan. I lived near the Upper West Side and I was going out in jazz bars and going downtown meeting artists.

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Perspectives: Sir Bernard Eder

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I’ve had a happy time. My wife said at school I spent most of my time in the library. I came to 4 Essex Court in 1975. This is my home. In those days, 4 Essex Court was the number one set of chambers for commercial work and I met the head Bob MacCrindle. He was Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Obama, Putin… a mixture… it was like getting a part in a Hollywood film because no one got into 4 Essex Court in those days.

I remember Bob saying: ‘I’ll tell you three things. One, I’m leaving’. He went to Shearman & Sterling in Paris around the time tax rates were 98% or something like that. Second, he said, ‘you’re going to buy my chair and table’. I was 22, didn’t have any money and he said ‘that will be £100’. I said ‘okay’. I still have that furniture. Thirdly, he gave me some advice and said: ‘If you don’t have to say anything, don’t.’ That stayed with me. I’ve been incredibly short in my judgments.

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Life During Law – Edward Sparrow

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The legal market has become more competitive. One way of measuring yourself is profit share. For some partners, the size of this share is very important. When I started getting offers, I realised money wasn’t something that motivated me. Other factors were much stronger.

I started out with a managing clerk – he was a bad influence in terms of litigation because he was at a stage where he couldn’t be bothered with the detail, but he was fantastic. He was the firm’s troubleshooter. Whenever the client had a problem – if there was fraud in the factory or somebody was stealing – he was the guy that got called in. He was like something out of a 1970s police programme. He was my first influence.

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Q&A: Jenner & Block’s Charlie Lightfoot talks about leadership, White & Case, and ‘getting my hands dirty’

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Chicago litigation firm Jenner & Block’s launch of its first overseas office earlier this year in London was as soft as they come. Is there space for another litigation firm or will London be its graveyard? Charlie Lightfoot (pictured), the man tasked with growing the firm’s London office, talks of the firm’s prospects. 

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Life During Law: Kevin Gold, Mishcon de Reya

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My career has been one of misfortune for others and fortune for me. I had two senior partners that died – one was very young, Alan Rosin at Bayer Rosin – he was in his 40s, I was about 30. As a result of his death, which was a huge tragedy, I inherited a practice.

Bayer Rosin was a unique firm. The partners were either South African or East African. South Africa was just coming through apartheid and so on his death the opportunities presented themselves. Many firms wanted to merge with us as we had a strong practice in the region. One was Mishcon… I brought about half the firm with me, others went their own way. The second person was the then-senior partner Martin Bayer. He came to Mishcon but died a few years after we joined.

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Client Profile: Susanna Berger, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co

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KKR’s European GC talks about building a local team for a diversifying finance giant.

One of the most common criticisms levied at general counsel (GCs) is their inability to share best practice, as well as their supposed lack of knowledge of the challenges facing peers. However, for Susanna Berger, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR)’s GC for Europe, networking with peers is one of the best parts of the job.

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