The Hot 100 career quiz: legal entrepreneur Kim Simmonds

What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee?

I had of fun at Shearman and I’m still friends with a lot of my class, but it could be an intense place to work. The most vivid memory I have is from one week when the M&A group had two different billion-dollar deals – one exchange and one completion – and I slept a total of about three hours that week. At the end of the week I had so much adrenaline that, although I was shattered, I couldn’t sleep for about 24 hours after both deals finalised.

I remember trying to sleep under my desk, with the lights still on in the office in case anyone called or needed me (didn’t want to get too comfortable). I’d just nodded off when my office mate walked in and startled me and I banged my head really hard on the desk. Though it was tiring, working so hard and into the wee hours of the morning bonded us as a team. We all looked out for one another and had fun in the process. We were energised by the challenge of the work and each other. Work hard and play hard.

What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?

One of my earlier deals when I went solo was for a good few million pounds and I definitely felt the pressure. I was representing a large supplier of IT services and the other side (the customer was a law firm) decided to bring in one of the magic circle partners to represent them on this deal.

If magic circle representation wasn’t intimidating enough, the firm decided to bring eight members from its board plus external legal counsel to the table – facing only me and my client invited to the meeting.

Obviously the 10 lawyers were totally unnecessary and meant to be an intimidation tactic, but they didn’t stop there with the theatrics. They set the meeting to start at 5pm at their office with an end time of 7pm, but the lawyers drilled into every point (needlessly) so that we weren’t even halfway through by 7pm. We weren’t offered any refreshments (I had to ask for some more water) and they insisted we keep going. I had started the meeting by explaining that my two kids were at home with the babysitter who was not expecting me to be later than 8pm. But clearly nobody cared. There was absolutely no empathy and no offer to continue at another time.

The expectation from the room – all men barring one junior associate with no child – was that we would finish it, which we did finally nearer to 10pm (still with no food and only that one glass of water).

My client won and it’s been a lucrative deal for them but I made a mental note there and then that I would never treat anyone like this, no matter what side of the table they were sitting on.

What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?

You can never truly change anyone. You must only lead by example. My dad told me this when I was 10 years old, and it’s stuck firmly with me. It applies in business, with kids, partners and friends. You have to take people for who they are and maybe you’ll inspire to others to make changes, but you can’t tell them to do it. I just love this and it’s stood me in great stead in my life.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

It’s pretty tough. You’ve got to enjoy managing people but you’ve also got to know what a privilege it is to be a leader of an organisation and really stand behind that. Being a mother and a leader at the same time is also very tough, but if you love something enough and you want to change even just a small part of the world, it is a great place to be. You can absolutely do it when your heart and mind are both in the right place and in it for the right reasons.

What’s your best friend from law school doing now?

One is working for the AAA (American Arbitration Association) doing some amazing things over there! The other is a partner in a big City law firm, in the white collar crime division, doing amazing things and being recognised for it. Both such inspirational women to me.