Ace Private Equity Attorney: Super-Smarts Aren't a Job Requirement
Charlie Geffen readily admits he’s something of a workaholic. But, the British lawyer says, it doesn’t take an academic whiz to be one of the world’s most successful private equity practitioners.
Instead, diligently learning the rules is what it takes to get through law school, and, especially in his practice area, working well with others is key to a successful legal career, reports the London Times in a lengthy profile of Geffen, 48, who is the head of Ashurst’s private equity practice.
“You don’t have to be that clever to be a lawyer,” Geffen says. “There are very, very few people who get business because they are clever. They tend to be tax lawyers, regulatory people, that kind of thing. What I do is about relationships and about service, getting on with people. And being constantly available.”
Although his law firm is not one of what Geffen himself describes as “the global six”–Allen & Overy; Clifford Chance; Freshfields; Latham & Watkins; Linklaters; and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom–or even, perhaps, among those recognized as what he terms “very high quality” specialists, such as Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz–it nonetheless has international name recognition in the private equity field.
“It’s not Clifford Chance or Allen & Overy in terms of the breadth of the product range, but in terms of what we do, we’re absolutely class,” Geffen says. “That’s an extraordinary achievement. How has it happened? I dunno. A combination of able people, energy, luck.”
