Slaughters' Charles Randell on naval dreams, moral dilemmas and keeping sight of the big picture

Why did you become a lawyer? To support myself. I had been awarded a place at university to read English, but my father died before I started the course and I switched to law because I didn't feel I could ask my mother to fund me through a non-vocational degree. In fact, at one stage I had been toying with the idea of joining the Navy so that they would pay my way through university!

Who has been the biggest influence on your career? My partners, past and present, at Slaughter and May. Among the retired partners, Giles Henderson, Thomas Buckley and Simon Ward stand out. They all have an eye for the bigger picture. In addition, I have learned a lot from some great lawyers at various 'best friend' firms of Slaughters.

What's your proudest professional moment? Becoming a partner.

… and worst day on the job? The fourth day of the Barings administration, when going without sleep for three days finally caught up with me. I spent about an hour wandering around Barings' offices trying to find my jacket, which I had taken off three days earlier. I hope I've become a bit better at pacing myself since then.

Aside from your own firm, which lawyer do you most admire and why? In private practice, I have dealt with nice and talented people at City firms, such as Will Lawes, Nick Segal, Michael Raffan and Mark Rawlinson at Freshfields; James Palmer at Herbert Smith; and Daniel Kossoff at Clifford Chance. I know a lot of partners in Hengeler Mueller particularly well. Outside private practice, there are some outstanding general counsel and members of the Bar and I've also encountered outstanding lawyers working in government.

What advice would you give to young deal lawyers starting out? Don't read documents until you have thought about what the big deal points should be. As soon as you start reading a 100-page document you lose the bigger picture so, once you have made yourself a list of the big deal points, don't lose sight of them. In career terms, keep your CV as varied as possible: don't over-specialise or get stuck in any rut.

What's your strongest characteristic… and worst trait? My ability to imagine bad things happening. This is an asset when you are drafting a contract, because it means you legislate for what can go wrong, but it can lead to additional worry.

What's the toughest ethical/moral dilemma your job has ever presented you with? I was advising a client selling a company who discovered the day before signing the sale and purchase agreement that the buyer had made a huge error (in the client's favour) calculating the purchase price. We spent an uncomfortable night debating what was the right thing to do and decided that we should alert the buyer to its error.

What advice do you have for those hoping to balance being a partner in a City firm with enjoying a life outside work? Don't spend a minute longer in the office than you need to. People who are efficient and manage their time well can reduce their working day by a couple of hours.

What's your strongest card – technical wizardry or smooth client skills (you can only pick one)? Neither. My strongest card is being able to fall back on the technical wizardry and smooth skills of my colleagues.

Most memorable deal you ever have worked on and why? Slaughters' work for the Treasury on the banking sector over the last 15 months. It's been a difficult but fascinating period. The sheer scale of the assignment makes it stand out.

Do you see yourself having a career outside law? Yes, but I'm not sure whether anyone else can see it! The people I admire most of all are good teachers, but it has to be one of the toughest jobs – a lot more difficult that anything I do – so I wonder whether I could do it.

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