20821 A&O Alumni Yearbook 2016_pages

ARTICLE: THE EMPLOYEE LIFECYCLE
THE TIMES
THEY ARE
A-CHANGIN’
JAKUB ČECH
Trainee, Prague
Entry level
lawyer
“Find something you love
doing – it’ll feel much less
like hard work if you do.”
– Andrew Rhys Davies
FAYE COBB
Legal Professional
Assistant, Dubai
Professional
Assistant
ounds simple, and for some it is.
Take David Morley, A&O’s recently
S retired senior partner. An
interviewer once asked him how old
he was when he knew he wanted
to become a lawyer. “When I was 13,” he replied.
Sure enough, David spent 35 years – all of them
at A&O – in the profession, retiring in 2016.
That’s not unusual in the upper echelons
of the legal profession. But the chances are a
group of millennials, asked if they saw
themselves staying with the same organisation
– or even the same profession – for that
length of time wouldn’t have that expectation.
With a globalised economy and greater
flexibility in how, when and where people
work, the career lifecycle looks different from
what it was 30 years ago.
For many, joining A&O remains a career
highlight but it may not be forever. So today’s
employee lifecycle is about building
relationships that last; being forward-looking
and equipping people with skills and
experience to set them up for the future,
whether they spend it with A&O or move on.
Ten people from A&O’s past, present and
future talk about their expectations and
reflections on careers at the firm and beyond.
GRAHAM MARTIN
Peerpoint Consultant, London
MARK ROBILOTTI
Managing Director &
Deputy General Counsel,
TPG Growth, New York
and San Francisco
Consultant
Alumnus
34 allenovery.com/alumni