For those who know me from my work in the mining industry, it sometimes comes as a surprise to learn that I began my career as a corporate finance and securities lawyer.
Many years before I founded Intrepid Metals Corp and Excalibur Metals Corp., and made the leap across the boardroom table to the business side, I worked for a premier Toronto law firm, and later a corporate finance boutique firm in Vancouver, assisting companies with raising capital and making acquisitions.
After eight years of 80-hour weeks, I decided it was time for a change. The truth was, what my clients were doing excited me more than what I was doing to help them. It was time for me explore the adventure of entrepreneurship.
It’s the same impulse that led me to reserve a spot on one of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic suborbital flights. Ironically, moving beyond the inner atmosphere may turn out to be easier than moving beyond the confines of corporate law as the transition was not easy at first.
Although my interests today lie elsewhere, I recognize that studying and practicing corporate law gave me a tremendous foundation for future success in business. Beginning with my courses at Western University’s Faculty of Law, where I earned my J.D., I attained knowledge that has been vital in discovering business opportunities, closing deals, and forging professional relationships.
Studying the law is wonderful training for the mind, and practicing law gives you tremendous insight into how our society and economy work. You learn important skills, cultivate valuable networks, and gain insight into human nature. Later on, when you are creating your own companies and initiating business ventures, you have an essential understanding of the legal framework that underpins our system of commerce. And, if you’ve been fortunate enough to practice law at the higher levels, you already know some of the key players in business and finance.
Creating a new career outside the legal profession is not that unusual for law school graduates, in Canada and the U.S. Some graduates choose not to become lawyers at all, while others practice law for a few years or decades and move on to other pursuits. One reason is that the job can be a grueling routine, with long hours and, to be perfectly frank, a focus on dry minutia.
“A law degree is a problem solving degree, a thinking degree, and a foundation in analysis and logic,” Anastasia Boyko, a legal consultant who has served as dean of the Tsai Leadership Program at Yale Law School, has written. “As such, it provides a launching pad for leadership roles in other sectors.”
Lawyers lead in some surprising fields. As Boyko notes: “They run financial institutions, they are management consultants, they start businesses, operate sports teams, produce Broadway plays, write books, become happiness experts, run talent functions, lead sales teams, build 3D cars, manage hotel chains, start non-profits, seed early-stage companies, start tequila brands, operate beauty businesses, pioneer accountability networks, and so much more.”
She adds: “Lawyers, whether they give themselves credit for it or not, have a unique capacity for leadership.” I have certainly found that to be true. Whether prospecting for copper and silver or leading mining companies from initial start-up on the TSX Venture Exchange to full NYSE listings, my law background has given me the tools necessary to lead in a broad array of business sectors.
As comedian Jerry Seinfeld once wryly observed: “To me a lawyer is basically the person that knows the rules of the country. We're all throwing the dice, playing the game, moving our pieces around the board, but if there's a problem, the lawyer is the only person that has read the inside of the top of the box.”