Keith Townsend had to develop business development skills as a young partner at King & Spalding LLP after two of his mentors at the firm retired and another went in-house at a client, he said on this week’s Drinks With The Deal podcast.
“It was a challenge for me,” said Townsend, an M&A partner, co-head of the firm’s corporate practice and a member of its managing policy committee. “I grew up at a time when business development wasn’t an integral part of becoming a partner. It wasn’t something we actively trained our young lawyers at.”
That’s changed. Today, he said, helping associates understand business development and encouraging them to invest in relationships with people at companies and private equity firms is a critical part of preparing young lawyers to become partners.
Townsend focused on capital markets work as a young associate but soon came to focus much more heavily on M&A, which turned out to be a good career move as the demand for capital markets work has declined.
As a member of his firm’s compensation committee, he said, “I came to believe a lot of our lawyers needed to have majors and minors with the idea that there are going to be shifts in what we do over a five-year period, and they have to be able to pivot as the world changes.”
Listen to the podcast with Keith Townsend below:
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