Kenton King joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 1988, when it was, in his words, “sink-or-swim.” Now as the partner-in-charge of the Skadden’s Palo Alto office, King is striving to reinvent the firm’s culture with programs that foster mentoring and open communication. King, who was previously global co-head of Skadden’s corporate transactions practice, sat down with The Recorder to discuss his East-meets-West management style and the are-we-in-a-bubble question.
Tell me about the few years you spent working in Japan and the effect you think that’s had on your management style. I lived in Tokyo for a couple years when I was a student in college, so between my sophomore [year] and what ended up being my last year at Stanford, I was there for a couple years on a program, which was marvelous. And then after graduating from college, I spent four years working for a major Japanese trading company called Marubeni. And this wasn’t a legal job at all. It was selling Japanese steel pipe to guys in Texas for drilling oil wells and the like. And it was a marvelous experience. I was totally immersed in Japan and Japanese culture, went long months without speaking any English, and was totally immersed. It’s an interesting culture.
