Daniel Winterfeldt: Simmons & Simmons

What was your first-ever job?
Working in a Jewish deli in Cincinnati called Izzy’s as a busboy and waiter.

What was your worst experience as a trainee?
Working two all-nighters in a row and being told by a partner who finally let us go home to rest that: “You’re young – you shouldn’t have to sleep every night.”

Where’s the best place to go if you want to find out what’s really going on in the office?
The trainees – they seem to know everything that one needs to know.

What time do you usually leave the office?
Between 8pm and 11pm.

What do you do at weekends?
I spend Friday nights at home with my partner, and Saturdays relaxing, going to the gym, running errands and walking the dog.

What’s your favourite restaurant?
Cecconni’s in Mayfair.

If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you have been?
A psychiatrist (insert joke here).

Who’s your hero and why?
My great-aunt Ruth Grunwald – she was always kind, honest and impeccable with her word.

What’s the best thing about your job?
Getting to work on international transactions with my UK and international colleagues.

What’s the toughest thing about your job?
It’s also my favourite thing – working with people.

What car do you drive?
I don’t have a car. I walk to work and home every day.

What book are you reading?
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.

What’s on your iPod?
Podcast with Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, the author of My Stroke of Insight;
unreleased demos from Hard Candy by Madonna; Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp.

What’s your favourite children’s book?
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis.

What’s the most exciting deal/case you’ve worked on?
The Yell IPO, as it was my first main market listing with a Rule 144A offering for a longstanding client of the firm, working with the top investment banks in the City.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what two luxury items would you take?
My iPod and a bottle of Terre d’Hermes cologne.

What’s the longest you’ve worked without sleep?
I worked for three full workdays and two nights without sleep, as mentioned previously.

Who would play you in the movie of your life and why?
Tom Ford, as he’s looking to break into the movies and would do it with style.

Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with and why?
George W Bush, as I would have nothing appropriate to say to him.

CV
Name: Daniel Winterfeldt
Firm: Simmons & Simmons
Title: Corporate partner and founder of the InterLaw Diversity Forum
Lives: Covent Garden
Education
1990-94: BA in Biology and Spanish, Washington
University in St Louis
1995-98: JD, Fordham University School of Law, New York
Work history
1998-2000: Associate, Hughes Hubbard & Reed
2000-05: Associate, Weil Gotshal & Manges
2005-07: Senior associate, Jones Day
2007-present: Partner, Simmons & Simmons