REMEMBERING STEPHEN DENYER; A GIANT OF A MAN

REMEMBERING STEPHEN DENYER; A GIANT OF A MAN

Stephen Denyer was not a man you could forget.

His giant book of connections from all over the world was second to none. His giant beard had made him stand out from the crowd when he wore it at a time when facial hair was simply not de rigueur in City law firms. And his giant heart left an indelible mark on everyone he worked with.

When Stephen died in January this year, there was a giant hole in our profession.

Stephen was with Allen & Overy LLP, man and boy, having begun there as an articled clerk and then staying for 36 years. He was one of the forerunners of internationalisng not just his own law firm but the profession generally. He brought people together to discuss matters that are of the greatest significance to the legal world. He was someone who really made a difference.

Guy Beringer met Stephen at Allen & Overy in 1978; as Guy says “not yesterday”. They started as articled clerks six months apart, then worked together as young, qualified solicitors and their friendship continued right through their illustrious careers.

“Stephen was an unusual person whom people often underestimated. He had the best connected network of contacts in the legal world globally of anybody - bar none - that I know and he built this painstakingly from the mid 1980s onwards. He was a trailblazing pioneer in many Central and Eastern European jurisdictions where he was responsible for setting up many practices that are still there today. He knew the markets in places like Poland,

the Czech Republic and Russia better than anyone - and people there trusted him. He became the glue in the firm’s global offices, particularly Germany, Italy, Spain. He played a key role in bringing people together. He was a great listener - something that is not as common a quality as most people think. He was naturally collaborative and had an approach which brought people together. Increasingly he became involved in developing new markets and jurisdictions for the firm and much less involved in fee earning - so he was often overlooked by those who failed to realise that actually most partners are capable of doing transactions but rarely can you find ones with the qualities Stephen had. There was no obstacle he could not get around - irrespective of the amount of work he had to put in.”

Guy feels Stephen’s qualities and attributes really gained the recognition they so rightly deserved in Stephen’s “second career” with the Law Society; his knowledge of how different legal jurisdictions worked which had taken him 30 years to build up was not something you could buy and was priceless.

Another string to his bow was the work he did with international legal associations particularly the International Bar Association (the IBA) something he persuaded Guy to also join - and which proved to be invaluable to the firm as a route to the scores of independent jurisdictions where even today a lot of firms do not have offices but need to have trusted friends and partners. Stephen used the IBA as a platform to develop such relationships.

Despite being such a great internationalist, Guy recalls that Stephen’s language skills were terrible. He spent a lot of time working in Germany and his wife is German so his four children are bi-lingual but Stephen never strayed far from his native tongue.

As a friend as well as a colleague, we asked Guy what Stephen was like outside of the office; what were his passions?

“He adored being outdoors in nature. He was a very gregarious man who loved the company of people. And he greatly enjoyed discovering new places; there was nowhere he would not go. Even places that were not the most straightforward to be in, he nonetheless was more than happy to visit.”

This love of the unknown and desire for adventure extended into Stephen’s culinary experiences too. When Guy and Stephen would travel together to far flung locations, Stephen would be the one to try even the strangest dishes while Guy looked on at him as a barometer to gauge whether he should also venture to try. For Stephen, the more unusual the better, he had no fear.

Guy remembers that even as a 23 yearold, Stephen always had his trademark, signature beard. It was gently suggested to him when he was coming up for partnership that he might have more chance if he shaved it off but he point blank refused saying if they wanted him, they would have to take him as he was, beard and all. They wisely and obviously did want him.

Carly Hollingsworth also worked with Stephen but at the Law Society where he was the Director of Strategic Relationships. Before she worked with him, Carly was with a legal recruitment agency as their Business Development Marketing Manager so she used LinkedIn a lot. It was on this platform that Carly came across Stephen’s profile - and was hugely impressed by his enormous connections and the work he was doing. She began to follow him and when he posted a job advert to work for him, she could not resist. She got the job and began in January 2020.

“My first impressions of Stephen were that he was intimidating. He was important, knowledgeable - and a big man! But actually the opposite was true. There were just the two of us in our immediate team. He was all about professionalism and high standards but also really laid back, warm and kind. We both had a ‘get on with it’ approach, no beating about the bush. Stephen did so much for my career and my confidence as a person. He always spoke about how ‘we’ had done x, how ‘we’ had achieved y. He never took the credit for himself but referred to us as the double act we were. He felt like a family member to me. He challenged me in such a way that he made me believe in myself; it was very empowering. He always championed me, giving praise and positive feedback which I thrived on.”

Carly recalls how much Stephen always spoke of his family, telling Carly all about their achievements. He was incredibly proud of them; Carly says, outside of work, they were “his world”.

Mickael Laurans is the Head of International at the Law Society. His collaboration with Stephen precedes Stephen’s time at the Law Society; as a City lawyer Stephen always valued working with the organisation informally. Mickael began at the Law Society 21 years ago as adviser for Europe and the former Soviet Union; it was a time of expansion into Central and Eastern Europe and this covered jurisdictions where Stephen had been highly active and so had a wealth of knowledge which he was more than happy to share with Mickael. In 2005, the Polish Government of the time (the first Law and Justice Party Government) wanted to introduce legislation to cap legal fees at €60 per hour. Had they succeeded that would have been the end of international law firms, not to mention the prominent Polish law firms in Poland. Stephen and Mickael joined forces to prevent this and were aided by a number of organisations, firms and prominent individuals.

Stephen then joined the Law Society International Committee and became the Law Society representative on the UK delegation to the CCBE for three years at the same time that Mickael was its Information Officer so, again, the two worked very closely together.

Mickael says he was also fortunate that, as a result of a training request, he was allowed to shadow Stephen for two weeks while he was at Allen & Overy and found the time invaluable as Stephen was, as ever, so generous in sharing his time, experience and contacts with Mickael.

Mickael says it felt only natural that when Stephen decided to retire from Allen & Overy, a move to the Law Society would be his next role. When Stephen became Director of Strategic Relationships, and with Mickael becoming Head of International, the working partnership between the two continued and flourished.

When Mickael talks about Stephen the words “generous”, “superbly connected” and “sharing” are frequently used.

“When I think of Stephen, I remember how generous he was with his time, with offering advice - whether personal or career or delivery of the work as well as with sharing his enormous network. Do you know the saying about six degrees of separation - that you are only ever a half dozen handshakes from anyone else in the world? With Stephen, it was more like two or three!”.

Stephen Denyer did things in his own way. He followed his own independent course, but he was a team player too. He brought those opposites together in a unique way. He was a big man, in every sense. But he was a very gentle giant, a genuine man who liked helping people. He will always be remembered for his kindness as much as for his professional achievements.