What was your route into the profession?
It was very traditional, in the sense that I did a three-year law degree at the University of Birmingham and then jumped onto the conveyor belt soon after. This meant securing a training contract (or articles of clerkship as they were then) with one of the local law firms in Birmingham. I accepted an offer at Ryland Martineau [now Shakespeare Martineau], sorted out a place at College of Law in Chester, and before I really knew what I wanted to do I’d set myself on a path to entering the profession.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
That would be in the late 1990s, when I had to decide to move on from being an M&A lawyer with a varied workload, to fully embrace the world of energy contracts and regulation. For me, that wasn’t a gradual evolutionary thing. Off the back of a successful pitch to help a utility client with some contracts work, I quickly found myself having to read into boxes of contracts, codes and licences—not much was online in those days.
This was shortly after electricity privatisation, and so it was a really steep learning curve, with little or no textbooks or training material to help. However, it taught me never to shy away from a challenge, and to take opportunities when they present themselves. I’ve never looked back.
That was the start of my career as an ‘energy’ lawyer. The title means different things to different people, but for me it represented a total commitment to an industry sector and client base. Luckily, it’s an area that is continually changing and transforming itself, and I now find myself working with some fantastic companies at the sharp end of the country’s transition to net zero. What could be more exciting?
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
It sounds a bit corny, but I continue to be inspired by the aspiring lawyers that join our firm each year.
When I started out, the task of getting a training contract comprised little more than a tactical short summer job in a law firm back home, a rather boring CV meticulously typed up on a typewriter, and an informal interview with one of the firm’s partners. Roughly two years later, I was competing for a solitary NQ position with my fellow trainee, and I remember thinking the odds weren’t that bad.
The talented people coming into the legal sector now are hardworking and highly committed to a career in law. They’ve typically been through exhaustive interviews and assessment centres, and often have very clear ideas about how they expect their firm to behave, evolve and move forward. They also come into the profession at a range of different levels, from diverse backgrounds and with varying career aspirations. What they share is a hunger to learn and be tested, but also to challenge the status quo with fresh ideas and approaches.
For someone like me who has worked in the same firm throughout their career, it’s so important to keep engaged with those just starting out and be open and receptive to new ideas. With so much change happening around us, sometimes at bewildering speed, it’s vital to break out of the traditional way of thinking about mentoring and role models.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?
I’d have to say music. Writing and playing music is my passion, and I’ve played various instruments since I was very young. Making that a successful career is a big jump, and I was never brave or committed (nor probably talented) enough to do that. Although, I hear that it’s never too late, and who knows what’s around the corner?
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
I don’t know of many, as I try to avoid reading about or watching lawyers in my spare time! There are also plenty of fictional barristers doing their thing in court, but solicitors seem to be rather under-represented, especially those like me who spend most of their time drafting contracts. I can’t think why...
However, I’m a big Breaking Bad fan, so I’ll say Saul Goodman. You can’t help but admire his talent for getting his clients out of trouble, and he certainly had a couple of challenging ones.
What change would you make to the profession?
Obviously the legal sector has some way to go yet to fully embrace diversity and inclusion, and to create opportunities for the very many talented young people out there to unlock their potential. Looking ahead, it seems to me the traditional law firm partnership structures will become increasingly outmoded and irrelevant. Law firms need to retain and attract talent across all levels and that means competitive rewards certainly, but also flexible working and a credible career path in the context of a business which measures success not only in financial terms but also with regard to social responsibility goals and a long-term sustainable vision.
That’s often incompatible with a partnership structure built around ownership and risk, and sometimes (dare I say it) time served, and in-built prejudice against non-lawyers. In today’s complex and IT-driven world where contribution comes in all shapes and sizes, it’s clear fresh thinking is needed. It will always be important that our clients are protected by sector regulation, but that regulation needs to be sufficiently flexible to allow law firms to be creative in adapting their business models to meet new these challenges.
How do you relax?
I always go back to music. As well as listening to a lot of it, I play the piano and guitar mostly, and am in the middle of collaborating with our firm’s CEO Sarah Walker-Smith to write a couple of musicals. The project started out as an antidote to lockdown, but in the space of 10 months or so we’ve written the songs for one fully scripted musical, and half the songs for a second. Watch this space!
Andrew Whitehead is senior partner and head of energy at Shakespeare Martineau.
