Every morning, somewhere across London, 15 partners wake up, pour themselves a coffee and wonder how best they can ruin Colin's career.
Not out of malice, you understand. Nothing so dramatic. More in the spirit of healthy professional competition. Imagine that feeling of beating Sheffield United 5–0 at Hillsborough.
If you can survive—let alone thrive—in an environment where a small, rotating cast of equally competent, well-funded and quietly determined opponents are, in effect, trying to do just that… then you’re probably doing something right.
Colin has been doing exactly that for 29 years and here's how he did it.
The myth of the grand career plan
Colin didn’t map out a five-year plan involving lateral moves and personal branding. He got a training contract and got on with it.
“I fell in love with the firm straight away,” he says, with the sort of earnestness that provokes cynical jeering from all those City lawyers at their desk at 2am still waiting to find "the one".
The firm grew—from 40 partners to 350—roughly in line with his career. Not because of him, he insists but by chance he was there, at the right time, enthusiastic and growing with it.
In other words: you don’t always need to chase opportunity. Sometimes (very rarely) lady luck will bless you and drop it in your lap—take note.
Early career: discomfort is the point
Like most trainees, Colin spent his early days wondering what on earth was going on.
Corporate seat? No work (thanks Tony Blair).
Technology seat? No idea what a “shrink wrap agreement” was.
Probate? Suddenly running his own mini-department and storing human ashes under the tree at Christmas.
Yes, really—there must be a joke in there somewhere.
And yet, this is where the lesson lies. He thought he was floundering. In reality, he was learning.
His advice to juniors is simple:
“You feel like you don’t know what you’re doing… but you’re doing all the right things.” Law, like most professions, is learned by osmosis. If you’re waiting to feel “ready,” you’ll be waiting forever so get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Find your “sorting hat” moment
Eventually, Colin landed in commercial litigation.
“It was like the Harry Potter sorting hat said: ‘Hmmm...Commercial litigation.’”
At some stage, something will click or it won’t.
If it doesn’t, move on.
If it does, lean in.
The office, that strange social experiment
Colin compares a law firm to a group of siblings. Some are delightful, others less so, but you’re all stuck together for better or worse.
And—brace yourself—he thinks being in the office, regularly, actually matters.
Not in a “daily 8:30am roll call” way (he’s rightly dismissive of that nonsense), but in a human way. You learn by proximity. You notice things. People notice you.
“You miss out on something” if you’re not there, he says.
Which is awkward, because post-Covid, many mid-level associates have been quietly hoping the opposite is true.
The reality, as ever, is balance. But if you’re junior and invisible, don’t be surprised if opportunities are too.
What makes a partner?
It’s not just being good at law, although that helps.
Colin’s shortlist:
Communicate clearly Stay calm (no emotional yo-yoing) Work hard—consistently Don’t lose your head when things go wrong
Or, as he puts it, stay close to the “X-axis.”
Clients don’t want drama. They want reliability. If you’re oscillating between euphoria and despair, they’ll gravitate towards someone who isn’t.
Networking: less champagne, more timing and luck
If you’re hoping for a slick business development playbook, again, sorry.
Colin’s approach is essentially: meet people, be yourself, consistently keep in touch, which he did for over 20 years.
That’s it.
No funnel diagrams. No growth hacks. Just… relationships.
“You meet people in your twenties… and one day they’re general counsel,” he says.
Which is either comforting or mildly terrifying, depending on how many bridges you burned on wild nights out in your trainee years.
The AI panic (and why it’s overblown)
Colin says we have now passed the “AI will replace us all by Tuesday” phase.
His verdict? Calm down.
AI is useful—very useful—but it’s not taking over complex legal judgment anytime soon or managing complex client relationships. It hallucinates, sometimes it guesses and it isn't perfect (yet).
What it will do is commoditise the dull stuff faster. NDAs, bulk repapering, process work—all drifting leftwards on the “rocket science to commodity” spectrum.
The implication is obvious: your value lies increasingly in thinking and advisory work rather than the mundane, repetitive tasks.
The big question for the industry now is how do you get people to that level.
Final advice: don’t be precious
If there’s a thread running through Colin’s career, it’s this: be enthusiastic and don’t overcomplicate things.
You will feel lost—carry on You will be criticised—learn from it You will make mistakes—inevitable You will (hopefully) improve—if you stick with it
And perhaps most importantly:
“Be very good at taking criticism.” Because in law, feedback is rarely wrapped in a hug.
The quiet truth
There’s a tendency, particularly among junior lawyers, to assume that there's some secret sauce for success in law that's lavishly dished out in smoke-filled rooms in St James's.
There isn’t.
It’s about consistency, resilience and the slightly unfashionable concept of staying put long enough to get good.
Which may not sound glamorous.
But in the social media era of infinite options—where careers are treated like trading cards to be swapped in the pursuit of “getting ahead”—there’s seems to be a resurgent premium on the old ways.