A charmed life and career

Europe beckons

However, by the 1980s, another area of law was beginning to take hold: competition law. The UK had joined the European Economic Community in 1973 and then, under the Thatcher government from 1979 onwards, had signed up to the EU single market. This gave rise to more and more competition issues.

Working for Richard Fleck, Jonathan found himself spending about half his time working on competition matters. That also suited him well. “Competition law was great because at that time there was very little law. What was really interesting was learning about the clients’ business and the market in which they competed.” The work itself was varied and increasingly significant: domestic regulatory challenges, merger control cases and cartel investigations, among others. He was made partner in 1988.

His practice was domestically focused, and so Jonathan was surprised, when, in 1989, he was asked by the firm to open an office in Brussels, since he didn’t even pretend to be a European law expert. Some of the work came from UK client referrals and the rest from local and international marketing. The firm had to establish credibility in an increasingly sophisticated European legal ecosystem. “To begin with, we could move some work that we were doing in London to Brussels. But gradually we built our own client base.”

Jonathan was in Brussels for five years. He enjoyed a “smooth relanding” upon returning to London, continuing to work for existing clients while generating new business. It was a time of significant change. European law, in the form of Articles 81 and 82, was incorporated into English law. Jonathan became the go-to competition lawyer for many of the corporate partners.

In tandem, Jonathan took on a new role: graduate recruitment partner. “I would recruit significant numbers of non-lawyers. And when we were recruiting 80, 90, 100 people each year, I would have in my mind, we’ll have five wild cards. Some of them will be complete misfits, but some of them gold dust.”

He also ensured that the firm drew from across all ethnic groups. Though public school and Oxbridge himself, he was an advocate of greater access. “I was very keen that we recruited from as wide a pool as possible. I was willing to cut some slack for those who had not had the same opportunities.”

Path to senior partner

Around this time, Jonathan became involved in the firm’s management, sitting twice on the firm’s Partnership Council and becoming senior partner in 2010. Having assisted clients with their strategies, he felt there was an opportunity to have a close look at the firm’s own strategy, particularly when it came to European and global strategy. The firm then had associations with the German firm Gleiss Lutz and the Dutch firm Stibbe. These had not lived up to expectations, even though they were both very good law firms. There was a cultural mismatch with Gleiss. So when Jonathan took over as senior partner, he asked Allen Hanen, one of the defeated candidates in the senior partner election, to carry out a strategic review. The conclusion was to terminate those associations.

Coincidentally, and fortuitously, Herbert Smith was approached out of the blue by Freehills with a proposal: would they consider a full merger? Having dealt with the less than satisfactory position in Europe, the two firms proceeded to merger (See Alumni Matters 2022 for the full story). The opportunity seemed almost preordained. “The merger with Freehills literally fell into our lap. It revitalised the firm.” Jonathan became senior partner of the merged firm.

Nevertheless, it was not an easy time to be senior partner. The market was going haywire with lateral hires, as the US law firms, in particular, poached top lawyers with vastly inflated offers. Loyalties were being tested as never before. At the same time, Jonathan felt that Herbert Smith Freehills was becoming partner-heavy. As he explains it, “For lockstep to work, you have to be really tough on entry to the partnership and ruthless on exit, and we had been neither. We took some very difficult decisions.” That process, he recalls, was emotionally draining.

He was senior partner for just under five years and believes that was the right time to go. The firm was in good shape, the merger had bedded down, and he felt he had contributed everything he could. He certainly didn’t want to outstay his welcome or return to practice.