Law
Clark, Keith (5 of 11) National Life Story Collection: Legal Lives
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Legal and ethical usage »
Type
sound
Duration
00:30:59
Shelf mark
C736/001
Recording date
1995-06-11, 1995-13-11, 1995-14-12
Recording locations
London
Interviewees
Clark, Keith 1944- (speaker, male)
Interviewers
Brodie, Louise (speaker, female)
Abstract
Part 5: Talks some more about firm in the seventies. Companies' Act 1967 changed things considerably. Before that all professional partnerships practising together were limited to very few in number. After the Act partnerships could grow as a result of market pressures. Consequence was the expansion through the seventies, eighties and nineties and the very large law firms of the present day. Refers back to time when he started Articles at end of sixties and when he moved to Coward Chance at beginning of seventies when firms were still quite small. Talks about need, by returning solicitors in late forties and fifties, for rebuilding after Second World War. By the time he started his career all this had been achieved. He commenced with corporate finance work and soon moved into banking finance area. Describes essence of this work and the need of able people to produce the relevant documents. Also necessary to employ extremely good secretarial backup. Technology in early seventies rudimentary compared with that of today. Photocopier the great new invention - describes its advantages to the office. Talks of other office arrangements. 1973/ 74 great breakthrough was telex - impact was dramatic. Able to send 30, 40, 50 ft long documents anywhere in the world. This remained the essence of international deals until the advent of the fax machine fairly recently. Computer-based technology also an enormous advance in the last decade or so. Describes early huge, main-frame machine. Needed its own immaculate setting with air-conditioning. Used initially mainly for financial matters. Huge strides in computer technology have been made throughout eighties and nineties and Clifford Chance now have dedicated team of highly professional computer people. They upgrade their systems frequently and thus have highly sophisticated state-of-the-art office accommodation with sophisticated wiring and power systems linking all the people in the twenty-three of their different offices around the world. Practically every individual in the office has his/her own VDU and even he, himself, - though rather reluctantly - is having to come to terms with the technology. Mentions benfits of E-mail. Likens these changes to the those of Industrial Revolution and the impact on our working and lifestyles. His generation forced to find a way through mental block experienced in operation of computer system. Says E-mail was great breakthrough for him. Such a useful communication tool which forced him to use the computer and become familiar with the use of the mouse and so on on a daily basis. Describes make-up of firm. Coward Chance one of the first of City firms to have a woman partner - Ros Banks - on property side and taken on in early seventies. In sixties when he was an articled clerk it was an all-male intake. Now it is fifty-fifty men and women. Talks of difficulties for women in reconciling requirements of a strenuous job with demands, for married ones, of family life. Says they have had to change the mould and that they have done so admirably. Thinks women have a humanising effect. Talks about widening of functions of different businesses including law firms and latters' involvement in the community, about pro bono work, volunteering work and so on.Talks at length about responsibilities of individuals and business organisations of making available their skills for worthwhile community projects - about the advantages to young lawyers of pro bono work. Mentions his firm's work on behalf of people on Death Row in the Caribbean islands and helping with Privy Council appeals. Also talks about setting up charities, doing their tax work, going into schools and talking to students about life in the City. Providing a role model - this had proved successful in pilot schemes. Describes how scheme operates. Reverts to describing effect on his firm of oil price rise in seventies and how this impacted on banking system. Talks about petrodollar deposits and recycling thereof - syndicated loan agreements - different international backgrounds - need for agents for the banks - Eurodollars - extra work for lawyers writing contracts, negotiating loans etc. London predominant centre in mid-seventies for all these deals. Later Bahrain and Hong Kong became regional hubs for Middle East and Asia. Explains why Coward Chance needed separate banking areas. Explains why and how Bank of England had to create a lifeboat to rescue the secondary banks. Mentions collapse of the Herrstadt bank and how Bank of England changed its stance from a fairly benign overseer into a firmer regulatory authority. Gives examples of changes as a result and mentions the Cooke Committee, B.I. standards and European Banking directives. Points out difference in regulatory regime between here and other countries including USA.
Description
Life story interview with Keith Clark (1944-), senior partner of Clifford Chance between 1993 and 2002
Related transcripts
Keith Clark interviewed by Louise Brodie: full transcript of the interview (PDF)
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