Ashar Qureshi discusses his passion for gardening – and a possible pre-shower video slip up…

Fried Frank partner Ashar Qureshi joined the U.S. firm's London base in 2018 as head of its EMEA transactions practice, after four years as a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Here, he discusses his gardening world at home and some interesting client demands…

What's the best part of working from home?

We have decamped to the country and I am enjoying having a day that fluidly moves from work, to the garden, to long walks. I have a "bit" of a man crush on [T.V. gardening host] Monty Don and am happily interspersing Gardener's World directives with conference calls.

What time do you tend to start your day, take lunch and finish up?

Alas – in London we serve all the world outside the United States so time is fluid.  Some days start at the sparrow's fart, while some are more leisurely.  I am however leading on cooking dinner. Though my family would rather from time to time I did not cook – last night's steak was a little too blue.

Do you prefer phone calls or video calls?

Phone calls – I am completely bereft without my hair and makeup team. I must admit that the nature of some of our conversations has changed a bit. I was speaking to the CEO of a major corporation a few days  ago and mentioned casually before the investment bankers joined that I had been sowing seeds before the call. "What did you sow" he asked.  "Mostly cauliflowers" I answered. "WHERE DID YOU GET CAULIFLOWER SEEDS?!" he bellowed, "I CANT GET ANY CAULIFLOWER SEEDS!". I did offer to share (full client service).

Do you get dressed properly every day?

I was a VERY early adopter of business casual (even before the first dot com boom) and my style of dress hasn't really changed. I am happy to be in jeans and shirt but cant really do the pyjamas thing (but then again don't really have respectable pyjamas).

What's the first thing you'll do when the lockdown is lifted? 

It's going to be a full afternoon – the Raphael exhibit, gorging at the food market and then sitting in a proper coffee shop for a post binge coffee.

What's the biggest challenge about working from home? 

I am a luddite – I miss unstructured direct human interaction with colleagues  – serendipitously walking into a colleague's office and coming away with a brilliant idea (for which I can take unabashed credit for).

How many times a day are you interrupted by pets/ spouses/ children? 

My working situation is fluid – enough said (particularly when you take into account that my youngest is 19).

What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you on a video call?

Nothing really. Though my wife insists that I failed to turn the video off as I went to the shower one day. No one has mentioned a thing!

What do you miss most about the office?        

The people. The specialist coffee shop around the corner.

How are you spending your weekends? 

Work/gardening/work/screaming at my adult kids.

How productive are you working from home compared with being in the office?

I don't think we are less productive working from home. There are some teething issues but one can bed them down pretty quickly.

Background music or silence?

Anything to drown out the cacophony!

How do you think your clients feel about you advising them remotely?

I don't think clients care where you are. They are concerned about availability, responsiveness and creativity. What is important to  client, I believe, is that their lawyers are aligned them.

How do you like to stay in touch with your colleagues?

Calls, constant calls, some work some social many just daft, and, quelle horreur, some on video!

What would be your three top tips for others working from home?

- Buy a good printer/scanner (from bitter experience) - Keep your work day and domestic day separate - Talk: constantly and to everyone. Long distance runners may be meant to be lonely; most of us are not long distance runners.