Jake Green’s deep knowledge of financial services law has made him a go-to man for journalists wrestling with the implications of Brexit.
An award-winning partner with leading London law firm Ashurst, Jake (OE 1992–1997) has been quoted several times in recent months on the front page of the Financial Times, with the newspaper turning to him for his expert knowledge of areas including regulation and compliance matters.
His day-to-day work involves giving advice on Brexit to banks and fund managers. In fact, he offers a valuable combination of expertise, since his knowledge of the law is complemented by practical experience from ‘the other side of the fence’: over the past few years, Jake has spent time on secondment at a hedge fund and a brokerage house.
Jake won the 2013 Thomson Reuters Annual Compliance Awards Best Regulatory Lawyer of the Year title. He was recognised in the Financial News’ 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Legal Services in 2014 – although he had no idea he had even been put forward for such an accolade.
He qualified while at Nabarro, where he worked for more than five years. “I then followed my boss to Ashurst,” he says. Jake arrived at the firm in 2010 and was made a partner in 2015.
“I really enjoy it and, of course, there are the rewards. It’s a long job; it’s a taxing job, but work-life balance is changing in the City. The days of the ‘all-nighter’-type culture are slightly fading. I am emotionally invested in my clients, and most understand that a work-life balance is healthy!”
Other factors, such as serendipity and the willingness to make the best of any situation, can contribute as much, if not more, to an individual’s success as any carefully worked-out career plan, he believes.
Before reading Law at Leeds University from 2000–2003, Jake ‘took a year out’. He recalls: “I got very lucky and got a job at Sky, working on the Premier League. I was dumped straight into working with Andy Gray and Richard Keys. It was great fun. In life, things sometimes are a bit random – it can just be about being in the right place at the right time. I have found that being prepared to muck in gets you quite far and sharing gets you an awfully long way. I was offered the opportunity to stay at Sky but decided I wanted to do Law. Sport was a hobby that I found I was enjoying slightly less when I was working in it.”
Jake’s sporting prowess was very much in evidence during his time at QE: he played both Fives and cricket for the School. It is perhaps because of that that he fitted in so well, he says.
Like others, his memories include endless breaktime games of football using airflow balls. Other aspects include the ‘duckets’ – blue cards used to give boys credits, which added up to commendations, with these, in turn, counting towards House points.
Of the staff, it is History teacher Mr Marek Kolczynski who especially sticks in his mind, both for some enjoyable, thought-provoking lessons and for memorable encounters outside the classroom.
“He used to say: ‘Always ask yourself how do you know that you know?’ and ‘What evidence is good evidence? How do we weigh evidence?’ He would urge us to keep on probing.” Such a grounding proved valuable later in his legal career, Jake says.
He also recalls being ‘skewered’ by Mr Kolczynski over some minor misdemeanour: “’You are not sorry; you are sorry that you got caught,’ he told me.”
Jake left QE after GCSEs to attend a sixth form college nearer to his family home in Finchley. “My father died and I wanted to be close to home,” he says.
He still lives in the same area today. He is married to Miranda and has two children, Ethan, aged six, and Chloe, four. He maintains close friendships with a number of his QE contemporaries. In his spare time, Jake enjoys playing football.
Pupils Akshat Sharma and Tej Mehta put forward the motion for the 53rd annual debate, which was held on the day of the 445th anniversary of the founding of the School. It was opposed by Jonathan Hollingsworth, who opened, with support from Pravin Swamy (both OEs 2006-2013).
The opposition countered these arguments, claiming the price of giving up our online privacy would be to give up part of our humanity, including our freedom of speech. Facebook came in for criticism, and the alumni said that even Mark Zuckerberg has now opined that such companies need regulating. They argued that people would not expect more traditional forms of communication – the Royal Mail or faxes, for example – to be open to others to view, so why should the internet be any different?
The floor debate saw enthusiastic contributions from Year 12 speakers and guests. These ranged from the question of how to monitor and deal with the terrorist threat, through to the different expectations there should be users in terms of the sharing of social media posts and messages between, on the one hand celebrities (and those who court social media attention) and, on the other, ordinary users. They also raised the already-strict financial and criminal penalties that exist for those who breach data laws.
Max completed a three-month unpaid internship as a football consultant, before being offered a full-time role as an FA Registered Intermediary with Sidekick Management Ltd. “It was very hard to break into,” said Max. “I had no contacts and little industry experience. In the beginning, I was constantly being asked which footballers I already had on the books, which was tough when I didn’t know any personally.” But he successfully signed two players to the agency within his first three months and, in doing so, forged sustainable relationships with a number of academy directors, coaches and a chief executive.
“I am an experienced music curator and influencer across all levels of the industry, including radio, festivals, labels and online publishing. As co-founder of www.stampthewax.com, I have grown the online music platform to become one of the key UK influencers in underground music. As an original member of [disc jockey and record label owner] Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM, I played a key role in the development of an award-winning online radio station.”
Jin joined Northwick Park in August as the most junior (‘Foundation Year 1’) doctor in his team. “Working as a doctor has itself been another steep jump from university. I have had some very good moments with patients and members of the team, tempered by moments of acute stress and uncertainty. But overall it has been a great and humbling experience, packed (perhaps surprisingly) with lots of laughter and hilarity. After six years in Cambridge, it is nice to be back in London!”
After becoming interested in the mind, Jin did his Part II (intercalated degree) in Experimental Psychology. “In my final year, I worked with Professor John O’Brien and Dr Annabel Price on a novel research project using anonymised electronic case records to identify differences between the survival of patients with two different types of dementia: dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s dementia. I was selected for an oral presentation of this research at the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the research paper has just been accepted for publication in the BMJ Open journal.
“I have seen the kids react when Harry is around – they really take to him. Harry seems to have a way with the kids, man!” said George, who stated that the importance of the charity lies in the fact that there is still a stigma surrounding HIV.
During the documentary, George spoke out about the fact that the ethnic background of Meghan Markle has attracted comment in some quarters: “Why should it be controversial that someone is mixed-race? What’s the issue?”