Sidley Austin global private equity practice co-head Brien Wassner (in red), going for the ball. Picture courtesy of Sidley Austin

(Reuters) - As global co-head of Sidley Austin’s 280-lawyer private equity practice, Brien Wassner has, by any measure, a demanding day job overseeing billion-dollar deals.

Personally, I’d understand if he went home every night and watched Netflix until he dozed off on the couch.

Instead, he’s in Israel this week as a member of the U.S. men’s Masters 35+ soccer team competing in the Maccabiah Games – described by its organizers as the world’s third-largest sporting event after the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, with more than 10,000 athletes participating.

The quadrennial event, also known as the “Jewish Olympics,” attracts participants from about 65 countries. President Joe Biden attended the opening ceremony in Jerusalem on Thursday.

A striker, Wassner at 44 is the oldest member of his team, which competes in the division for players who are 35 and up. They face off against Canada on Friday, followed by matches against Chile, Brazil and England.

Still, what impresses me more than his soccer skills (formidable as they may be) is another rare ability: finding the Big Law holy grail of work-life balance.

One of the perennial complaints about mega-firms is how all-consuming the work can be, leaving little room for anything else. “Soul suck” and “hamster wheel” are among the more memorable descriptions I’ve heard.

Wassner co-heads a major practice at a 2,100-lawyer firm in a specialty that’s notorious for grueling hours.

Moreover, business has been brisk. In the first quarter of this year, the firm as lead counsel worked on 109 deals worth $102.1 billion, one of its best showings yet, according to a Sidley news release. Recent matters include representing Clearlake Capital Group in its acquisition of Chelsea Football Club (synergy!), co-led with Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge in a deal worth $5.2 billion, according to my Reuters colleagues.

But Wassner also finds the time for serious soccer. “It’s not like we’re playing against Arsenal,” he clarified, referring to the Premier League football club in England. Nonetheless, he juggles competing internationally -- he also played in the 2015 Maccabiah Pan American Games in Chile -- with a demanding practice and role in firm management.

Assuming he doesn’t have a time-turner (that magical “Harry Potter” device that gives the user more hours in a day), how does he fit it all in?

In part, the answer is straightforward. “I wake up really early,” he told me by phone from Israel, where his wife and three children, ages 13, 11 and 6, accompanied him to watch the games. He’s out of bed before dawn for runs or workouts, and even plays 6 a.m. soccer games near his home in Manhattan.

His work ethic stems, in part, from when he played soccer for Princeton as an undergrad, dedicating two or three hours a day to practice on top of the regular student workload, he said.

Still, lots of lawyers get up early and work hard -- and nonetheless feel like there’s little time left for much of a non-work existence.

Maybe. But I think his experience also points to systemic problems – and solutions -- in Big Law work-life balance.

When Wassner started his career in 2006 at now-defunct Dewey & LeBoeuf, he had to take “a hiatus” from soccer, he said "I don’t think I took two weeks off my entire associate career.”

On one hand, I understand that being an associate means working hard to prove yourself worthy of the brass ring that is partnership. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be indentured servitude.

Some firms seem to be recognizing this. At Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, for example, firm leaders in 2021 started mandating that every employee globally take one unplugged week off a year – no checking email or phone messages – on top of their regular vacation time.

And at Sidley, associate Matt Simpson, who is blind, participated in the Paralympics in Tokyo as a member of the U.S. goalball team. (The team finished fourth.)

For Wassner, who joined Sidley in 2019 as a lateral from Shearman & Sterling, where he co-headed the private capital practice, it took making partner to get back to soccer. “Once I had my own clients and business, I could manage things” and carve out the time, he said.

It’s not always seamless though. He recalled closing a big deal in the middle of a tournament several years ago, “I pulled an all-nighter and then (played in) the game the next morning,” he said.

The other key – one that other firms would do well to replicate – is having colleagues who will cover for him when he’s unavailable. Because for at least 90 minutes when he’s on the pitch this week, responding to client emergencies will have to wait.

In both law and soccer, Wassner said, “We’re a team.”

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Source: Reuters

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