By Business & Finance 
Adam Griffiths is a partner and head of the Dublin office at global law firm Taylor Wessing. He specialises in M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions. Griffiths primarily works with clients from the technology, media and communications, and life sciences and healthcare sectors.
By Héloïse Chaudot
What was your first job?
My first “proper” job was as an infantry officer in the British Army. It was my dream when I was a teenager, and I was very passionate about it.
I deliberately chose the infantry because I didn’t want to manage things; I wanted to lead people. At the time, it seemed to me to be the purest expression of leadership, and I really wanted that challenge.
What are your main priorities and goals in your current role?
We have recently announced our intention to combine with a US firm, Winston & Strawn, to create a premier transatlantic law firm that would operate under a new shared name, Winston Taylor.
With a significantly enhanced platform and US connectivity, we intend to build a powerhouse in major litigation, critical transactions, strategic IP, and private wealth in our key hubs, including Ireland.
This exciting and transformative combination will give our clients access to an expanded transatlantic team with the highest level of capabilities in the areas that matter most to them.
What pushed you to pursue a career in this field?
I was looking for something intellectually stimulating, fast-paced, and that might allow me to develop my leadership skills differently.
I had the fortune of meeting a great recruitment team at Eversheds in Birmingham, and they were kind enough to let me do a vacation scheme immediately before I deployed to Iraq in April 2006 – other firms had told me there was no flexibility in their summer vacation scheme pattern.
It is interesting how a career can hinge on very small moments.
How do you motivate yourself and your team?
I try to be honest with myself and with my team, and reasonably direct about expectations. As a relatively new entrant to the market, we have a fantastic opportunity to shape the team we want to be, and I think that has been attractive to all who have joined us.
There is a certain magic in a growth narrative. Lawyers tend to be very driven people, and are typically unafraid of taking on a challenge, such as entering a market previously dominated by a small number of large domestic firms.
In one sentence, how would you define success?
For our business, it would be achieving an ideal blend of dynamism and cohesion – I believe everything else follows if you can get the mixture right.
How do you relax?
Watching my kids play sports. They haven’t reached the age yet where winning is the group’s obsession, and so it is pretty much joy unconfined.
What is your favourite (non-business) book?
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Officers eat last (i.e. make sure the needs of those you lead are taken care of before your own).
How do you handle adversity?
I tend to grasp for a memory where the situation has improved or been rescued from a previously dire trajectory.
Also, there is no substitute for camaraderie – that sense of mutual trust and friendship gathered through being in a tricky situation together. For anyone, I think, loneliness or a sense of isolation tends to lead to bad decisions.
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