Ex-City lawyer returns to law from photography

Nick Pattman trained at Clifford Chance and qualified into their Milan office, where he worked for a couple of years.  He left law to follow his dream of being a photographer.  After a year, he came to the conclusion that the grass wasn’t in fact greener and has since returned to the legal fold.  He now works in-house at a Japanese bank in London and loves it.  He has no regrets about trying something else along the way though…

mtl: Hi, please can you start by telling us about working at Clifford Chance?

Nick:  I began my university career studying French and Italian as I have always loved languages but decided to change to law in my second year.  The language degree wasn’t as interesting or as challenging as I was expecting so I was glad that I changed courses and I knew that law was a profession that would enable me to still use my French and Italian.  This, to a certain extent, also dictated the firms to which I could apply and I chose Clifford Chance as it was one of the few firms with offices in Italy, something quite rare at the time. 

My training contract was great, particularly as I only spent a year in London and six months in each of Paris and Rome.  My time in Rome confirmed to me that I didn’t want to be based in London and that I would be much more motivated working Italy and in Italian. The quality of life is second to none there and the working environment was so much more enjoyable than the London rat-race. 

I contemplated qualifying into the Rome office, but much of the work there involved government-backed deals and securitisation, which wasn’t really what I wanted to do.  Instead, I chose Milan, with its focus on corporate and securities work.  I was part of a six-man English law team and, like any small foreign office, also ended up taking on anything that landed on my desk. 

It was a fantastic experience as I was thrown in at the deep end and had a great deal of responsibility (without doubt beyond that which I would have been given in London: on the English law side most deals were run by just one associate and a partner) and Milan is a great place to live and work. I loved working in Italian and stayed with Clifford Chance for 2 ½ years post-qualification. 

mtl: So, why did you decide to leave?   

Nick:  It was a combination of things: quiet simply I gradually started to lose interest in the work in my final year and I began to be increasingly frustrated by the Italian bureaucracy - everyday admin can be trying, even for a calm person.  You aren’t aware of the realities of living in a country when you go on holiday or stay there for short periods and obviously I had only seen the good side.  The main issue I had, however, was that, having such an amazing country on my doorstep and spending so much time in the office, often late into the night, made me start to question what I was getting out of my job and whether it made me happy or satisfied. The answer to both was ‘no’.  

So, I guess the small things started to niggle and I began to think about alternatives that weren’t office based. For many years I’d had an interest in photography; I’d taken my own pictures for a long time and had a good knowledge of people working in the industry so photography became an obvious choice. I spent my final six months at Clifford Chance building up a proper portfolio and going to studios after work to improve certain skills that I knew were missing, such as studio lighting.  I then networked a fair bit, meeting photographers in Milan and showing my work to them. Rather than being told to keep my day job, which was a response I was anticipating, I was encouraged to give it a go professionally.  In August, Italy shuts down completely, so in the summer of 2005 I took that as an opportunity to leave Clifford Chance.

mtl: It sounds very straight forward.  Was it really such an easy process to leave?     

Nick:  Yes, particularly as I had the support of my colleagues at Clifford Chance in Milan, many of whom seemed rather envious of my career move. The managing partner also helpfully commissioned me to take some large format photos for their newly renovated café, which provided me with money for my first few months of self-employment. 

I also decided to stay in Milan for six months to get some experience.  This involved shooting for my own portfolio and trying to set up test-shots, as well as assisting established photographers. I managed to assist an American fashion and advertising photographer for a few months which was a good introduction to the industry. 

I then moved back to assist in London and to get my technical and digital skills up to scratch.  After some serious networking and visits to agencies I started assisting a well known photographer who shoots for magazines such as US Vogue, Marie Claire and the Saturday Times as well as some high-end fashion and advertising campaigns, both in the UK and Italy.  I found that my new life was a glamorous, creative one: I was mixing with models and celebrities and, to begin with, I found it much more enjoyable than life amending agreements!

mtl: Very glam!  What went wrong?      

Nick:  I realised that the grass was not in fact greener and that the “dream” wasn’t what I thought it would be. The novelty of the industry also started to wear off. I found I was working harder than I had done as a lawyer. I could be up at 3am shooting to the light, spending four hours setting up equipment, shooting all day, packing everything up again and then heading back to the office to re-touch pictures, only to then get up and do the same again the next day. I also found the lifestyle pretty unchallenging and missed the mental stimulation of law.  Even the interesting, creative side of things can often be left to art directors and the job of a photographer becomes merely mechanical. 

Although there was a glamorous side to the job, I quickly realised that in the scheme of things I wasn’t indispensable and it was hard going from being well respected as a lawyer to being on a set where I was treated with little or no respect.  There are many egos at play in that type of environment and a lot of politics to deal with.  Given my professional background, I found it hard to be bothered with the pettiness and squabbling on set. 

It also didn’t pay very well, something I knew already but perhaps underestimated.  I had thought that doing something creative and a dream job would be enough to carry me through but I had got used to a certain standard of living and the irregular and small amounts that I was paid were hard to adapt to.  Finally, I think that having made my hobby my profession, I started to lose enjoyment in it.  The last thing I wanted to do in my free time was to go off and build up my portfolio.

mtl: So tell us about your decision to go back to law.       

Nick: Well after a year and a half of photography and feeling somewhat disillusioned about the reality of the industry and the prospect of having to assist for anything up to five to ten years (which is what is what it can take to break into the industry and start making a name for yourself), I realised that I should perhaps investigate going back into law, but on my own terms.  I knew what sort of job and lifestyle I didn’t want i.e. private practice in the City, so I dipped my toe in the water and investigated the in-house market.  I knew that it’s possible to explain a two year break from law, but that much longer could be trickier.  

My main requirement was that there should be a connection with Italy so that I could continue to use the language. I always wanted to work as part of a small team akin to working in an overseas office. There were lots of in-house jobs with large investment banks available and I went to a few interviews. Some employers simply didn’t understand why I had taken time out and rather than seeking to find out anything about me simply opted for grilling me on technical legal points, despite the fact that I was clearly rusty after time out from the law. The reaction I got to my time out often gave me an indication as to the kind of institution I would be working for. 

I then happened to see an advert for my current job on Totally Legal, which I often used to search, using “Italian” as the key word.  I now work for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited, a Japanese bank based in London, which was looking for an English solicitor who was fluent in Italian at the time. Roles requiring fluent Italian do not come up often and, if I am honest, I almost didn’t apply for the position because they were recruiting for a banking and finance lawyer and my experience to date had been in corporate and securities work. 

In hindsight, I was right to pursue the application and had two positive and enjoyable interviews with members of the team and was offered the job.  Unlike other institutions I had seen, they appreciated my potential and thought the fact that I was young and had gone off and tried something different could only be beneficial. They also realised that, given my background, much of what I had learnt to date was applicable to the role and the rest could be picked up on the job. 

mtl: And how is it going?       

Nick:  It’s great and perfect for me.  I was recruited in part because they were opening in Milan and needed an Italian speaker to deal with the new office.  We are a team of three in charge of the EMEA region. I work on transactions with all of our offices but am also responsible for any issues directly coming out of Milan which means I am working in Italian or dealing with Italy almost on a daily basis.

I was looking to be part of a small team again as I had been in Milan and to have lots of variety in the work.  There is a tendency in London private practice to be pigeon-holed doing a specific type of work.  Like in Milan, I do anything that comes across my desk of a legal nature as well as getting involved in the commercial practicalities and business side of working in-house.  As I discovered at interview, the bank has a good approach to the work/life balance: we work hard but have a good quality of life and work normal hours undreamt of by Magic Circle associates. 

The work is varied, the bulk of it being finance work, including straight lending, projects, shipping, trade finance and securitisation but I can also find myself working on corporate and commercial agreements, tenancy agreements, tax elements of transactions, litigation and generally anything else of a legal nature.  I never know what each day will bring, I just have to get on top of it and run with it, which is great.  My colleagues are all personable and approachable and the environment is friendly, polite and down to earth. It is just a very international, positive working environment and I have also been learning Japanese since January which feeds my love of languages. 

mtl: What have you learnt from your time away from law and do you have any advice given your experience?       

Nick:   People may think the grass is always greener but it’s not always the case.  I now appreciate the legal sector a great deal more – being a lawyer really isn’t that bad a job if you can find an area that interests you and a work/life balance that suits you.  I guess I was disappointed with the reality of photography as a career but made a point of writing down why I didn’t enjoy it at the time so that should my mind ever wander in years to come, I can remember why.  I have satisfied my curiosity about that particular career path and really do believe that I have now found a very happy medium with my current job. The civilised hours mean that I can go off and do other things outside work and I have the money and time to fund and enjoy photography as a hobby again. 

I still know I wouldn’t have lasted two weeks in private practice though, so it is important to look at and think about the environment that you work in and to which you are suited.  I could never go back to being a person who has his evening ruined, staying until 2am to finish an agreement. The one thing photography did confirm is that there is more to life than work in the office. 

I came back to law and to London refreshed.  I now appreciate how well London works and how efficient it is.  I have a new take on my career and on work in general.  I would therefore definitely say “do it” if you are considering a change and see what happens. Just before I handed in my notice, I was in Argentina and bought a print by the graphic designer Alan Fletcher which I thought was very fitting for the imminent career change. To this day I think it still holds true: “You've got to have the courage to close your eyes and jump in the dark aware that you may land on your face and have to get up smiling. After all, you're probably going to have to do it again tomorrow.”

Essentially, I think you should have the courage to pursue your dream: you can always go back to law if you want to.  Money should never be a reason not to try something and you should never have any regrets or that lingering thought of “what if”.  Don’t get trapped by the London tendency to sit it out and then find yourself caught in the treadmill.  I think it helps to have a focus though. Mine was always my connection with Italy, and it has linked everything I have done.

mtl: Thanks for talking to us Nick.

If you know any other lawyers who have gone and done something interesting or unusual with their lives or who have a great work/life balance then please get in touch.

WITHIN LAW

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