A Norton Rose Group magazine Issue 3 Re: WoRk dementia the ...

Norman Steinberg
Group Chairman, and
Chairman Norton Rose Canada
What has been the best of times for you?
My passion has always been doing deals. one of the most
interesting periods was in 2006/2007 when, basically,
that was deal frenzy around the world. in Canada, i had the
opportunity to lead some very important transactions while
at the same time, by pure coincidence, I was most involved
in some of my social obligations.
I was involved in leading the defence of Alcan. They had
been put into play by Alcoa and i was part of the team
looking at strategies as to how to deal with it best, the
result of which was that Rio tinto purchased Alcan for
38 billion dollars US, which was the largest cash takeover
bid in Canada’s history.
We were also approached by Cerberus, a private equity
fund from new York, to represent them in a possible
purchase of Bell Canada (Canada’s biggest public
company).
I had the privilege around that same year to receive a call
from issy sharp, the founder of four seasons. He said that
he was thinking of privatising Four Seasons with Prince
Al-waleed bin talal from saudi Arabia, and the Bill gates
foundation. so we worked together on that exciting deal.
that same year, i was asked to be the co-president of the
annual campaign for Centraide (United Way), along with
the President of Hydro-Québec, Thierry Vandal; he and I
became great friends as a result.
that period was really quite exciting. But my career has
always been very interesting. I have always enjoyed my
colleagues and our clients, and our clients have always
been my best friends.
i think you have a facility for making friends. it seems that
when you work on transactions over a long period of time
quite often a friendship comes out of that.
Absolutely. I feel that in our profession we are very
privileged with the people we interact with; after several
decades of practising law, I have to say that our clients are
my best friends. to me it’s almost indistinguishable what is
business and what is social.
And, because of who we are, we have had opportunities to
take leadership positions in fundraising for various causes,
and there again we create another network of friends,
people in the arts community and the philanthropic
community. I have met people that are as good at social
entrepreneurship as the entrepreneurs that work in the
business community.
so, that’s one of the things that i really enjoy in life, the
opportunity to create friendships with diverse people
around the world.
Is that an approach that you would like to see reflected
across Norton rose Group?
Oh, very much so. I think, for us to be most effective
in what we do, it is awfully important that we create
close relationships with our clients, with the diverse
communities that we are involved in. We are more effective
as lawyers for the Group if we have deeper penetration
socially, on an individual and a collective basis.
if people approach their professional life in that way,
what happens to a sense of private space?
I believe in the blurring of the lines. My perspective on it
is that it is almost indistinguishable, our work as lawyers
and our relationships with our clients and the broader
communities. that is one of the reasons i enjoy – and my
wife Renée is very much a part of this – I enjoy our life so
much.
There are always opportunities to have a private back
stage. that’s entirely possible, but i do take issue with
lawyers who try and create a line of demarcation between
what they do at the office versus their social lives. The
better approach is to have a blurring of those two sides –
we have a great opportunity to interact with some of the
most interesting people in the world, so why would they
not be part of our personal lives as well?
So, to fit all this in, it’s important not to waste time.
well, time management is, i think, one of our most
important priorities. My first priority of the day is always
to look at the agenda and plan my time. in fact, what i do
when I get to the office – and I have always done this – is
i sit down with my assistant louise and plan the day, the
week, the month, the year. i think if we properly manage
time we can squeeze in more opportunities during the
year than by, as you say, wasting time. wasting time
means poor time management.
are you an extrovert?
i like quiet time to catch up with some of my other
passions in life, reading, photography, music or walking.
But I am very much a social person. I do enjoy being with
people. it’s about balance.
What were the worst of times?
Nothing really occurs to me. I think I have been blessed
with a great life, a great marriage, a great family, a great
firm, so, no, I am a person who always looks at the
situation with the glass half full, so, no, i don’t think i can
reflect on the worst of times.
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:The Q&A
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