Taking colourful route to top of law firm

Leaning back in his chair, laughing and wearing no tie, Declan Black is not the stuffy lawyer stereotype you would expect to see running one of the State’s largest law firms.

We are in a meeting room on the top floor of Mason, Hayes & Curran overlooking the glistening waters of Grand Canal Basin. The sun is shining and there are views over the whole city, sporadically interrupted by automatic blinds with a mind of their own. They go up and down, brightening and darkening the room seemingly at will.

His background may be in corporate litigation and insolvency, but Black is no legal bore. There is a glint in his eyes as he recalls how he co-founded the now defunct Pope Gregory Society at UCD, a group dedicated to fun times and nights out.

“We were, for a time, one of UCD’s largest societies, although that was probably related to our low entry fee and clear manifest of fun.”

His first job came in fourth year of secondary school, when he worked for the late disgraced accountant Russell Murphy. He then did a stint with insolvency supremo and renowned receiver John Donnelly at Deloitte, Haskins and Sells.

At college he participated in the J-1 programme, spending a summer in Atlanta, Georgia. Another summer was spent working in an ice-cream factory in London, where he got “reasonably good at making ice-cream”.

Despite coming from a legal family and graduating with a degree in law, Black opted initially not to pursue a law career. His first full-time job following graduation was in UDT Bank. He lasted six months.

“That was long enough for me to know that I didn’t want to work in a bank,” he says. “I resigned and got a job as a travelling book salesman.”

He spent a year driving around Britain and Ireland in an estate car full of books, before returning to Dublin and joining Mason, Hayes & Curran, to the delight of his parents.

“I was a guy with a Southern accent, driving an English-reg car in Belfast at the height of the Troubles. You would try and get to the book shop to show them all the samples you had. I’d have sample copies about the D-Day landings or the life of Winston Churchill or artistic photography which was slightly pornographic.

“Trying to get your car through the ring of steel that surrounded the city was hard. One of the bookshop owners was having a relationship with a senior RUC officer. I would tell her when I was coming to visit, she would ring the senior RUC officer and he would procure clearance for me and ensure I got in okay.”

Three-year traineeship

When he did join Mason, Hayes & Curran in 1990, his initial annual salary as a lawyer was £4,800. After a three-year traineeship, he began working in litigation and insolvency, ultimately becoming head of the firm’s litigation department.

“There was a lot of insolvency work following the dot-com crash. That ebbed away with the roar of the Celtic Tiger and there was a lot of commercial litigation. Then, come 2007 and insolvency work started coming in again.

“It’s hard to beat the satisfaction that comes from representing a personal litigant and winning. It is much more interesting when you are acting for a personal client than for a corporate client, especially when they have a lot of personal issues. Usually there is a lot of money, reputation and principle at stake.”

When he became a partner in 1998, he had to treat the entire firm to drinks.

“I brought them all to the Pembroke on Pembroke Street – it’s called something different now. I was the only person made partner that year. Luckily it only cost me a few hundred as there weren’t many people in the firm back then.”

Did he want his surname added to the name of the law firm when this happened?

“No. That is more of an American phenomenon. The whole obsession with name partnership is mostly in the US. It wouldn’t sit well with the team ethos we have here.”

He has a self-confessed intolerance of imprecise language, although I have to reel him in at times, when he starts talking in jargon, lapsing into sentences like: “We have to articulate the argument subject but not exclusive to appropriate constraints. We need to optimise the dynamic for them so they can get the best outcome.”

He is obsessed with customer service, and the type of service (from the quality of the legal advice to the clarity and speed with which it is provided) his staff give clients.

“The only sustainable competitive advantage is superior client service. Everyone has to communicate in plain English to the client. Nobody has an office, not even me. I sit at exactly the same space as any secretary in the building. We want a service mentality, not an ego mentality.”

Tobacco firms

What does he think of rival firm Arthur Cox representing the HSE and tobacco firms? The firm is legal adviser to Japan Tobacco’s Irish arm, as well as the Health Service Executive and the firm came under pressure earlier this year to sever its connection with the tobacco industry.

“I thought Arthur Cox got treated a little bit unfairly. I’m a firm believer in the rule of law. It’s a cornerstone of the rule of law that clients can be represented by the lawyer of their choice.

“It is entirely fine for the HSE or Government to stipulate ‘if you want to act for us, you can’t act for a tobacco company or a drinks company’. If you haven’t done that, it’s unfair to criticise law firms or lawyers from representing those who seek representation.”

He says law firms always have to stay attuned to the economy and societal developments. For example, they need to embrace technology and not be afraid of it. They also have to be flexible and ready to change. He adds that law firms do great work promoting Ireland as a place of foreign direct investment.

“We work consistently with the aims of the IDA in terms of attracting foreign business. We have people on the road in the US all the time, trying to encourage companies to locate here and do business here. That complements the efforts of the State agencies and is also in our interest”.

Black was made managing partner of the firm on April 1st, 2014. “I was made managing partner on April Fool’s day. For historical reasons, all our management changes are made on April 1st. It leaves us ripe for slagging.

“My job is to promote absolute excellence in client service. The objective of the firm – and it’s not just my objective, it’s the partnership’s objective – is to be in the best law firm in Ireland.”

Mason, Hayes & Curran hired 64 new staff last year and might soon have to consider moving from its current head office in Barrow Street to accommodate the growth in staff numbers. It now has 411 employees, including 193 solicitors, of which 72 are partners, and has had to lease additional office space in neighbouring buildings. Black says the firm would consider moving to a 100,000sq ft building in an effort to accommodate its entire staff under the one roof.

Recently, the firm overtook William Fry in terms of number of solicitors, although that is not a figure Black cares about. The number on his mind is revenue. The law firm increased its turnover by 25 per cent in 2014 to €60 million.

Social media giants

Data privacy issues that concern social media giants with bases in Ireland such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook has become a strong niche for the practice.

In fact, he says, a lot of the firm’s growth in recent years related to work undertaken on behalf of international clients operating in Ireland, such as those three companies.

“The competition among law firms in Ireland is intense. Most of the big companies will run tender processes for significant pieces of work. We welcome that.”

Over the years, the firm has been involved in some big cases and deals. Its corporate practice acted for Irish Residential Properties REIT on its IPO in Dublin and for Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners in its €700 million acquisition of certain assets from Bórd Gáis.

It acted for European Computer Driving Licence Ltd in the defence of an €80 million claim, and represented Defender Ltd in a €600 million claim against HSBC arising out of the Bernie Madoff collapse. More recently, it is representing Dragon Oil in relation to the recommended £3.7 billion cash offer by Emirates National Oil.

How does he feel about the fact that most of the other big law firms don’t publish their revenues? He says it doesn’t bother him, but he does like it when companies disclose their figures. Maybe even people should too.

“I’m not a particularly private person. I actually like the Scandinavian model where everyone’s tax return is public.”

The interview has drawn to a close but, as I am walking out, I remember I had forgotten to ask him about his most embarrassing moment.

He recounts the story of being told by the master of the High Court: "I can see your halo now" during a particularly pious explanation of a client's default. CV Name: Declan Black Position: Managing partner of Mason, Hayes & Curran Age: 47 Lives: Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Family: Daughter Ellen. Married to Sinéad with one son, David. Education: Clonsilla National School, Clongowes, BCL at University College Dublin. Something readers might expect: "I hate imprecise use of language". Something that might surprise readers: Was a junior league soccer referee for five seasons.