James Palmer (Profile) talks to Legal Business about being elected the first senior partner at Herbert Smith Freehills since the merger and what he will bring to the role.
Continue reading “‘A very different role’: Q&A with HSF’s new senior partner James Palmer”
I grew up in a small town where nobody’s dad I knew worked in London. The fast train to London didn’t exist – my parents worked in local government. They’re peace campaigners and not City-type people. They have different values and so I grew up in a very different world to this. There are some benefits in having that background – it gives you a bit of perspective.
Back in those days there was very little daytime TV, so on rainy days during the summer holidays there was a programme we watched called Crown Court. They had actors dramatise a criminal trial with a real jury. It was fascinating to me and, although it’s the other branch of the profession, it really stimulated my interest in being a lawyer.
When I was at school trying to figure out what to study at university, the school organised a series of individuals to give us a talk. They were all fine – from major multinationals and different industries – but none of them made me think: ‘Wow, this is what I want to do with my life.’ It wasn’t until a solicitor from Woking turned up – a specialist in criminal law – and he was hilarious. He was the only one who was enormously enjoying what he was doing. That was the first inkling that work could be enjoyable.
You wonder about becoming a solicitor or a barrister. I knew if I went the barrister route – which would have worked quite well since I like the sound of my own voice – if I failed as a barrister, I would be stony broke. If I failed as a solicitor, at least I could pay my expenses along the way. Also, the barrister profession can be quite a solitary existence compared to solicitors meeting clients. My personality led me to being a solicitor. I made the right choice. Continue reading “Perspectives: Simon Davis, Clifford Chance”
I didn’t start school until I was 13. I grew up in Liberia and it was wonderful growing up in the jungle because there were no schools! But my parents were increasingly nervous about how they were ‘mistreating’ their only son and told me I had to go to school. They had previously taken me to Sweden but having grown up in West Africa I didn’t care for Sweden’s winters very much. So they found some people in Los Angeles who would take me in, and I started in a public high school. Later, I would go to Harvard and Yale.
I started practising law in 1975 not having any idea of what I was doing. I began my career at Coudert Frères in Paris and like most people starting off, I didn’t know long I would do it, or whether I liked it, and whether Paris was the right city for me. I had no idea what practising law, or arbitration, was all about. My arrival coincided with a crisis for one of the clients in the firm – there was a dispute between the Libyan American Oil Company and the Libyan government. The concession agreement called for international arbitration under principles common to Libyan law and international law. I had studied international law at Yale and right off the bat the senior partner walks up the hall and asks if there was anybody who had studied it. That was the start – I never did anything else.
I always wanted to be an architect. Unfortunately I’m very messy and that’s a bad combination. Building useful things, such as bridges and roads, would be a great job.
My father was a history teacher and my favourite subject was history, but I knew I was never going to be a history teacher as I could see what it was like for him. I did law to keep my options open and was offered a job by Simmons, which felt like a phenomenally well-paid job. It wasn’t my life plan.
I had training offers from a couple of Magic Circle firms, but I chose SJ Berwin because at that time they were at the forefront of private equity – it was a dynamic firm then. On qualification I wanted to be a finance lawyer and felt I would have got strong technical training in a firm like Freshfields.
I moved to Kirkland as a fourth year to develop business. I felt there would be more freedom to develop client-winning skills as well as doing deals. I am happy with my choices. It wasn’t a conscious decision that private equity would be such a prominent area – I’ve enjoyed a lot of luck.
Continue reading “Life During Law: Neel Sachdev, Kirkland & Ellis”
In the end Macfarlanes’ response to the recession was very strong. We learned not to be frightened of change and our powers embraced this in a way which was very invigorating… I wish we’d responded a little sooner. But we got there and I’m proud of what we achieved.
The firm got its mojo back. That wasn’t a given. We were phenomenally successful – we were a deal machine and managed to adapt in a way that the mix of the practice today is quite different to six years ago.
Heathrow’s legal chief on early responsibility, legal satnavs and runway three.
While most general counsel (GCs) at major companies will talk of the attraction of getting close to the business, in a highly varied career Heathrow Airport Holdings legal head Carol Hui really can claim to have been at the corporate coalface for years.
The Slaughter and May-trained lawyer has amassed a huge range of experience since moving to British Gas in a senior corporate role at a time when female lawyers in influential roles were rare in private practice, let alone industry. Continue reading “Profile: Carol Hui – Heathrow Airport Holdings”
As Washington DC-based Steve Immelt next month takes over the reins from Hogan Lovells co-chief executives David Harris and Warren Gorrell, the disputes lawyer talks to Legal Business about the strategy going forward and partner ambition.
How did your appointment come about?
I wasn’t a part of the soundings process, but the board had talked to practically every partner in the firm to get their views – it was a comprehensive effort to get a sense of the partnership, which was invaluable.The board asked a number of people if they would consider the position. I was asked and decided I would. Continue reading “Q&A with Hogan Lovells new chief executive Steve Immelt”
The media lawyer talks about daytime TV and taking the top spot at the publishing giant.
Although not recommended for your average wannabe general counsel (GC), before rising up to become HarperCollins’ most senior UK lawyer, Simon Dowson-Collins’ in-house career began by watching television during the day.
Formerly with media firm Wright Webb Syrett, which merged with the now defunct Davenport Lyons, Dowson-Collins’ enviable first taste of life on the buy-side was as a media defamation litigator at the BBC, checking programmes such as Have I Got News for You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and They Think It’s all Over.
Continue reading “Profile: Simon Dowson-Collins, HarperCollins UK”
