Taylor Wessing's real estate head Paul Lawrence has been at the firm for more than two decades and made partner in 2001. Last year, he acted on a financing deal for a proposal to build London's tallest residential skyscraper on the Isle of Dogs. In 2014, he was part of the team that advised on the £700m sale of the Gherkin to Brazilian billionaire Joseph Safra.

Why did you become a lawyer?  As a 16 year-old I was persuaded to spend part of my summer working in a criminal firm in Kilburn High Street. Spending time interviewing clients in the cells at the Old Bailey seemed exciting at that time. In any case, I wasn't up to being a doctor or an accountant so what better profession to enter…