BCLP partner Tom Bacon talks dealmaking and career development
“Four people from my trainee cohort have gone on to become partners here,” says BCLP M&A and capital markets partner Tom Bacon. Having joined the firm as a trainee himself and progressed through to partnership, Bacon has had a front-row seat to what keeps lawyers at a firm for the long haul. For him, much of it comes down to culture. “BCLP is a very unique firm,” he says, pointing to a workplace that has built a strong City reputation without becoming “overly institutional”. Instead, he describes the environment as “entrepreneurial, collaborative and down-to-earth”.
That longevity, Bacon suggests, is no accident. Alongside what he describes as a genuinely “person-centric” culture, he points to the firm’s focus on developing and promoting its own lawyers. “The firm actively demonstrates that it promotes talent from within,” he says, highlighting its “clear route for those looking to build a long-term career at BCLP”.
A history and politics graduate who later made the jump into law via a conversion course, Bacon is refreshingly frank about the sometimes-unforgiving realities of the City law recruitment game. He recalls applying broadly, something he still encourages aspiring lawyers to do rather than becoming too fixated on landing a single “dream firm”. With competition for training contracts fierce, his view is that students should give themselves the best possible chance while still being thoughtful about where they apply. For Bacon, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), as the firm was then known, stood out as “one of the most respected City law firms, with the opportunity to gain direct exposure to corporate work”. That was the “critical factor for me,” he says, adding that “applicants should focus on deciding on the broad practice area you want to pursue and targeting firms that excel in that work”.
That broad-minded approach carried into Bacon’s training contract. Rotations through banking, M&A and corporate finance, litigation and a secondment to Tesco gave him the chance to test very different styles of work, and he cautions trainees against pigeonholing themselves too early. “You must commit fully to every seat without boxing yourself in,” he says. His own approach was to focus on doing well wherever he landed, asking himself, “How do I ensure the partners in this team want me at the end of the rotation?” That paid off. Bacon enjoyed both litigation and M&A and ultimately received qualification offers in each but opted for M&A partly because of the breadth of opportunities it could open up. As he puts it, “Retaining optionality has been the central driver of my career.”
As a partner, Bacon’s role has naturally changed. “My focus is on bringing business to the platform, overseeing deal execution, and advising clients on complex transaction structures,” he explains. “That can mean reviewing documentation, talking clients through how a transaction should be structured and stepping in when more difficult issues arise”. On an M&A deal, the aim is ultimately “guiding the client to a successful closing with the best possible commercial terms while mitigating downside risks”. Getting there is not simply about pushing every point as hard as possible. Bacon says the job requires “skilled negotiation and pragmatism”, particularly knowing “when to accept a point and when to hold firm” so that the deal can keep moving while the client’s position remains protected.
When it comes to junior development, Bacon describes BCLP as “deeply committed to its training contract programme”. As a full-service firm, he says trainees benefit from exposure across a broad range of practice areas, while development continues well beyond qualification. One example is Touchstone, BCLP’s framework for career development and structured feedback, designed to give lawyers greater clarity around how they are progressing and where they can develop further.
That focus on progression is something Bacon also sees through his role as chair of the Associate Discussion Forum. “I see how focused junior lawyers are on personal growth, skill development and constructive feedback,” he says. In his view, that has changed what good leadership looks like too. Rather than relying on rigid hierarchy, Bacon says teams increasingly need to be built around “inclusion, open collaboration and two-way feedback”, creating an environment where junior lawyers feel able to develop and contribute.
That development is backed up by early responsibility. Bacon says work in his team is allocated according to “capability and aptitude rather than formal seniority”, meaning juniors who show they are ready can quickly find themselves taking on more substantive work. “There is no restriction on the type of work you can handle if you demonstrate the ability to do it,” he explains. In a busy transactional practice, that can translate into significant exposure from an early stage.
The team structure plays a part too. With around 15 partners and a similar number of associates in the team, Bacon says work is “distributed evenly across team members” rather than strictly according to rank. “Trainees and junior associates frequently handle work at the same level as senior associates,” he says. That still includes the more traditional trainee tasks, but juniors who demonstrate strong aptitude can also gain “direct access to substantial deal work”, giving them the chance to build responsibility as their confidence and capability grow.
For trainees looking to make the most of those opportunities, Bacon says the fundamentals still matter. The strongest juniors, in his view, are “open-minded, hardworking, proactive and eager to learn”, approaching each task with the same level of care regardless of how glamorous it might seem. “Even when assigned routine tasks, delivering exceptional quality builds trust quickly,” he says. That trust matters because, once a trainee has shown they can be relied upon, partners are more likely to come back to them with increasingly substantive work. “Throughout your career, whether as a trainee or a partner, success comes down to being dependable and consistently delivering for your clients and colleagues,” Bacon adds.
That same emphasis on reliability carries into recruitment. Bacon’s first piece of advice is pleasingly straightforward. “First and foremost, ensure there are no spelling mistakes!” he says. By the time candidates reach the vacation scheme stage, he notes, many will already have strong academics and extracurricular experience, so the difference often lies in how clearly and thoughtfully they present themselves.
More broadly, Bacon encourages students to take the time to tailor each application rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. The aim, he says, is to “showcase your experience effectively” and make the strongest possible case for why your background and interests fit the firm you are applying to. Combined with his earlier advice not to become overly fixated on a single “dream firm”, it is a pragmatic message for application season: apply broadly, but make each application count.
Tom Bacon will speaking at ‘Inside M&A: Deals, decisions and the lawyers behind them — with BCLP’, a virtual student event taking place Thursday 15 October. Secure your place now.
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