Jeremy Cape - Tax partner
Studied law at Southampton before going to law school. Joined in 1997.
I joined Wilde Sapte, as it then was, as a trainee in 1997. I left in 2003 to work at a US law firm and also spent time advising the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer before returning to Denton Wilde Sapte in 2006. I returned because I was offered the opportunity to help grow the Tax department and the firm, with particular reference to its international practice. I have been a partner since May 2008 and the trainee recruitment partner since September 2008.
As lawyers, we have to be focused on our clients’ businesses and their commercial requirements. Our clients do not want brilliantly written academic treatises on the finer points of capital allowances. They also do not want us to tell them that they cannot do the deal that they want to do. I hate saying “no” to my clients, and my clients hate hearing it, even if unfortunately it’s sometimes unavoidable.
I’d never intended to be a tax lawyer and I don’t think many law students do - otherwise they train to be accountants. But, like the roles offered by many other departments in the firm, it is a career path that is attractive to intellectually curious and creative junior lawyers.
Every day is different. As I write this, I am working on a syndicated finance transaction, a lease of cranes in the Middle East, the establishment of a UK subsidiary by an overseas bank and preparing for an interview with a journalist on a national paper regarding a recent Government announcement on tax. As part of my role as graduate recruitment partner, I regularly interview potential trainees. I also frequently travel to our international offices to visit new and potential clients and to train our first-rate overseas staff.
My team of associates and our trainees are excellent and I enjoy being with them. I always try to work with another member of the department on a deal and sometimes, in appropriate cases, that person may do most of the work and have most of the client contact. Trainees in the department have undertaken a considerable variety of work, such as reviewing the tax provisions in credit agreements, attending and drafting a note of a consultation with a Tax QC and co-writing articles. But I always check their work and my door is always open. Although I don’t expect the associates and trainees to do so, I even check my Blackberry on holiday when my wife isn’t looking!
This culture of openness runs both ways, of course. It’s not just about people coming to ask me questions. I want to be challenged and to learn from the expertise of our people as well. So it’s vital that everyone - and I do mean everyone - has the freedom to put forward their own views and opinions, however controversial they may be. Fresh perspectives matter precisely because they’re fresh, and it’s important that we all learn from one another.
I enjoy the challenges and opportunities that each day at Denton Wilde Sapte brings, and I consider that there are very few City law firms that offer the range and depth of experiences coupled with a high-pressure but pleasurable working environment.