Work Life Quiz: Robert Weekes, Squire Sanders

What was your first-ever job?

Parking cars in Harvey Nichols’ car park.

What was your worst experience as a trainee?

At the end of my articles my training principal refused to sign them until I took him for a meal. He chose Simpsons in the Strand and ordered the most expensive meal I’ve ever seen, while I sat there sweating about writing a cheque I knew would bounce. After hours of excessive consumption (his, while I had a soup and salad) I screwed up the courage to ask for the bill, only to find he had already paid it.

What do you do at weekends?

Ski, play golf, have conference calls, and operate a taxi service for my twin back from university.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

The Albion in Shoreditch.

If you weren’t a lawyer what would you have been?

Sir Steve Redgrave. Or perhaps Sir Chris Hoy.

What’s your favourite film?

Live and Let Die.

Who’s your hero and why?

My dad. He was a banker at Lloyds. He taught me well.

What’s the toughest thing about your job?

Getting the right balance between work and home life. Our firm is now a global business with lots going on, and it’s easy to get tied up with work 24/7.

What’s your biggest work career mistake and what did you learn from it?

At my first-ever application for an injunction in the High Court before a notoriously difficult judge I discovered I had my photocopying in the wrong order. He gave me five minutes to sort myself out. I learned that attention to detail is vital.

What’s the most exciting deal/case you’ve worked on and why?

Many of the large-scale fraud cases I work on are exciting because the outcome is key to the survival of the client. The amounts can be so significant and the frauds so deep that your input is vitally important.

If you were stranded on a desert island what two luxury items would you take?

An enormous bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and a hammock.

What’s the worst partner conference location you’ve attended and why?

It was in a beautiful European city and all was great – until it turned out that another law firm was having its partner conference in the same hotel.