Mike O'Leary of Hunton Andrews Kurth.

Mike O'Leary has an extensive corporate securities and mergers and acquisitions practice that is focused on the energy industry. He also has a significant reputation in master limited partnerships. In 1983, O'Leary was a young associate involved in the first MLP created through an underwritten initial public offering—Transco Exploration Partners, Ltd. This new corporate structure allowed the securities of limited partnerships to trade on public stock exchanges while still maintaining control of the entity through its general partner and benefiting from the tax treatment as a partnership. As MLPs grew in popularity, O'Leary found himself working on the vast majority of MLP matters.

What's the biggest change you've seen in the profession during your career?

When I first started, transactions that were $10-$20 million were considered large transactions. They would typically take weeks to negotiate, would involve several face-to-face meetings with the counterparties and their advisers, and would take several weeks to close. Today, multi-billion dollar transactions are commonplace and negotiations are often conducted and completed without any face-to-face meetings. Turnaround on comments to documents is typically within 24-72 hours of receipt, and there is not a lot of time to reflect on issues—instead there is a premium on identifying issues and deciding on a response with your client in a short period.

What is one thing about the profession that has remained unchanged over the years?

On the transactional side of the practice of law, one constant is that transactions are more of a collaboration on behalf of a client with the counterparty and its advisors to reach a mutually agreed terms. It is not an adversary practice, although each transaction often involves tense discussions and negotiations. One important item for transactional lawyers to bear in mind is that over the course of a career you will likely work across the table from the same lawyers many times—preserving your reputation as a thoughtful, honest and creative lawyer when representing your clients will be important to a long, successful career.

What is one piece of advice you would give someone entering into the profession that you wish you had as a young lawyer?

Clients tend to prefer a transactional lawyer that is not only knowledgeable in the practice area for which the client has engaged the lawyer, but also someone who knows when other lawyers with specialized expertise are needed to address particular facets of a transaction.