Emerald Isle to Square Mile

Dublin-born commercial lawyer Vincent Keaveny was the first Irish citizen to be elected Lord Mayor of the City of London. He speaks to Mary Hallissey about the pageantry, global dealmaking, and political bridge-building that have comprised his career

Sitting in the sleek offices of DLA Piper in London's Aldersgate, Vincent Keaveny looks back on a career that didn't just cross the Irish Sea, but smoothed relations between the two islands during some bumpy moments.

His initial foray into London in 1989 – post the 'Big Bang' of massive financial deregulation imposed by the Thatcher regime in 1986 – was meant to be a short, differentiating stint.

He had followed UCD law with a BL at the King's Inns, and sought the further challenge of a master's at Trinity, writing a legal analysis of constitutional change in Ireland 1916-23.

"I hoped for a long career at the Irish Bar and thought, actually, if I want to get a year or two out of the country, this is the time to do it." But London, as it often does, had other plans, and its overpowering allure proved hard to resist.

London bridge

There is a living superhighway between the two islands, flowing with people, capital, ideas, and business – and straddling this living bridge between Britain and Ireland provides a unique perspective, Vincent believes.

"I found myself really loving London life and loving the work I was doing, and the international aspect." Once there, he benefited from the easier recognition of Irish legal qualifications that came in 1991, following EU directives aimed at creating a single market for professional services.

After six years in London, initially working at Bankers Trust, a top-tier Dublin firm offered him a senior associate role with a clear path to partnership. It was the homecoming his family had expected since he first packed his bags in 1989.

"I thought long and hard about it," he reflects now. "I decided I probably preferred the work I was doing and the transactional side of things. I've always got a real kick out of getting deals done, and I realised, possibly fortuitously, that maybe I'm a better deal-doer than a lawyer dealing with contentious matters. I've enjoyed the process of getting deals over the line. And, broadly speaking, there is a more constant level of big-ticket deals coming through in London."

That said, his decision to emigrate for good broke his mother's heart, he admits, since she realised he wasn't coming back, even with a good offer on the table.

"One of the most wonderful things about ending up Lord Mayor of the City [a largely ceremonial position, as opposed to the directly elected political Mayor of Greater London] was being able to have all of the family over from Dublin for the Guildhall banquet for 700 people.

"It's the most over-the-top banquet there is, and to have my mother and father there, and to be able to thank them – it was a moment where they could recognise that, maybe, that decision in 1995 didn't end up too badly!"

Bow bells beckon

Vincent believes that the broader-based Irish educational system is what makes Irish legal graduates highly sought-after in London. Demand is always greater than supply, because of the 'top-notch' quality of Irish legal education, he notes. "We would take more if there was more interest – and not just trainee solicitors; there are Irish barristers doing brilliantly here."

He advises incoming juniors to always keep an open mind, and not to be blinkered by preconceptions about the work.

"Go out and meet people" is his other piece of advice, and never miss the opportunity when something new comes along: "Make yourself known as somebody who is getting to grips with this new area, because you just never know where that will take you."

The British class system endures, he points out, but the Irish can't easily be pigeonholed under the usual indicia of accent or school tie, and may benefit from more amorphous origins.

"I seem to have ended up a bit of a class warrior," he laughs, pointing to his social mobility project Progress Together, a not-for-profit for improving socio-economic inclusion in the financial services industry. He feels that, as an Irishman, he can speak about these matters more freely.

London sits in the middle of the world in terms of global commerce and finance – Vincent loved that from the moment he arrived. "Some of the most brilliant people you will ever meet are working in financial institutions around us, here in the City," he says.

His abilities led him to the upper echelons of 'Big Law', including becoming a partner at UK firm Norton Rose in 1999.

He moved as part of a four-person team to the US firm Baker McKenzie in the mid-2000s, where he spent ten years as a partner. It was his move 11 years ago to DLA Piper's capital-markets practice that paved the way for his ascent to the Mansion House mayoral role.

Dick Whittington

In 2021, he made history as the 693rd Lord Mayor of London, the first Irishman to hold a title that dates back to 1189. The role serves an 'ambassadorial' function for the British financial and professional-services sector.

It also handed him a key role in history. He greeted the English royal family on the steps of St Paul's for the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth and, just weeks later, stood at the Accession Council following her death.

Vincent believes he has acted as a diplomatic conduit. Taking office when British/Irish relations were chilled by post-Brexit friction, he used the convening power of the Mansion House to thaw the atmosphere. The all-consuming mayoralty involved travelling about 100 days over the year to 22 countries.

"I haven't done very much real lawyering following the mayoralty. My role here at DLA Piper now is much more advisory, ambassadorial, really," he says. "I don't think you should ever go backwards. And I can use this extraordinary network and profile that you acquire in office.

"There are not many people I can't get hold of in London," he admits. "You're constantly bringing people into the Mansion House, and I had a very specific focus on the British/Irish relationship and hosted pretty much all of the senior Irish ministers in that year."

The business, social, and familial links between the two nations are enduring and deep, he adds. Second- and third-generation London-Irish told him of the pride they felt at seeing Vincent proclaim the new king on the steps of the Royal Exchange that morning in September 2022.

Puss in boots

Vincent reflects that business circles in Ireland remain small, while London is a vast city. He believes that the laws in the differing jurisdictions will continue to diverge. This is especially so as the Irish legal system develops more case law and scholarship, and the influence of European law diminishes in Britain.

The financial crash was a key factor in the Brexit vote, he believes – in the sense of displacement and a belief that the system was no longer delivering for ordinary people.

"The well-organised 'Leave' campaign mobilised people; it was a high turnout among disconnected people. And there was complacency about the likely result among London-based politicians. I believe it wasn't the right decision, but I don't see Britain going back, although there is a growing closeness with the EU and sensible decisions on both sides about practical things."

The price the EU would extract for Britain's return would be too high politically, Vincent believes, and there is no great appetite for 'return' in the City either.

"The financial-services sector, I think, is very comfortable with where things are," he says.

London's Square Mile now employs 676,000 people – up from 450,000 at the time of the Brexit vote, he points out. "It's been an extraordinary expansion. If everyone was coming in five days a week, we couldn't move on the pavements. There's been a huge amount of international investment activity. We have 40-plus Chinese financial institutions here in the City, all the major Indian financial institutions are here."

The presence of US law firms has accelerated, driven by the arrival of private equity. "I suspect everybody's probably working a bit harder and is very aware of global competition and not losing staff to rivals," he says.

There is also the 'gung-ho' longevity in US firms that sees lawyers continue at full tilt, well into their 70s. "I really don't think we have that work ethic – there is a cultural difference there."

Some young lawyers may take a positive decision to work extremely long hours and be very well rewarded, he adds, "but there are also plenty of younger lawyers looking for more in their lives, and we're responding to that by providing ranges of career positions and outcomes. We have more senior positions for non-partners now than would have been the case," he says. "We've a lot of legal directors, some of whom positively don't want to be partners, but are very good lawyers.

"The big additional responsibility is the requirement to generate work, which is tough. I think, objectively, we now look for much more from our partners. Anyone who's practised as a lawyer will personally know of people who've had major mental-health crises. And we've got to have mechanisms to deal with this."

Cock-a-doodle-doo

For all the pageantry, ceremonial grandeur, global dealmaking, and political bridge-building he has seen, Keaveny remains animated by the same instinct that first brought him to London as a curious young Irish lawyer. He still sees opportunity in openness and in the willingness to cross borders and build connections across industries and countries.

His long and wide experience has convinced him that the ties between Ireland and Britain will continue to deepen through commerce, culture, ambition, and personal relationships – with more to unite them than to separate them.

Mary Hallissey is a journalist at the Law Society Gazette.