There was a time when building a successful career in law seemed a long shot for New York Partner Jack Pace.

He grew up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, with the Staten Island borough of New York across the water in the distance, knowing that few people from the town ever made it into successful careers in New York City.

“I come from a working-class family,” says Jack. “My father was a public school teacher and my mother worked two jobs, as a special education teacher’s aide during the week and a cashier on weekends. So, when I started talking about being either a professional baseball player or a lawyer, I think both ideas could have been received with a bit of skepticism.

“But my family was a source of inspiration. For example, my grandmother was involved in local politics, including being a founding member of the League of Women Voters in Perth Amboy and serving for many years on the local board of education.

“Having a family member involved in politics was unusual among the kids in my neighbourhood, and I think her example helped give me the unreasonable confidence to aim high.

“When it came to college, I needed to decide between committing to baseball or concentrating on my studies and fully experiencing college in New York City.

“I realized that the furthest I’d probably ever make it in baseball was as a sturdy backup, so I decided to focus on school. It was the first mature decision I made in my life, and I’ll never regret it.”

“The litigation team could just as easily have been called ‘White & Case in exile’, because most of the lawyers I worked with at Dewey Ballantine were former White & Case lawyers.”

Jack studied at Fordham University, New York, both as an undergraduate (studying political science, economics, and Latin) and for his law degree.

He says: “I came out of law school knowing that litigation allowed me to pursue some of the policy issues that I found so interesting in college.

“Litigation also allowed me to work on two things I wanted to get good at – writing and public speaking.”

Fresh out of law school, Jack joined city law firm Dewey Ballantine, which is where his links to White & Case began.

He says: “The litigation team could just as easily have been called ‘White & Case in exile’, because most of the lawyers I worked with at Dewey Ballantine were former White & Case lawyers.

“In fact, the group ended up returning to White & Case in 2002, taking me with them.”

Jack was a fourth-year associate at the time, and his first impressions of the Firm were highly positive.

“I was really impressed by the global nature of the Firm and how diverse my new practice group was in every sense of the word, with people from so many different backgrounds, academic paths and countries,” Jack says.

“I was also impressed with the opportunities the White & Case network provided and, within my first year, I’d been able to connect one of my clients to our office in Geneva – my first experience of business development.”

Jack was promoted to partner in 2007, four years after joining the Firm.

He says: “It was in the times of the eight-year partner track and just before the global recession, so I don’t underestimate the part that luck can play in one’s career.

“That said, the Firm offers you tremendous opportunities, and you can take advantage of those opportunities only if you step up and take risks.

“I’d tell anyone that, to make the most of your career, your default answer to any request has to be ‘yes’, even if you’re worried that you don’t have time.”

Jack’s promotion to partner also came just before the Firm’s decision to restructure into regional sections. Initially, he was assigned to the disputes section, before asking to be switched to the competition section, perceiving that his antitrust clients were demanding greater specialization from their counsel. His current primary leadership role is Head of the Americas Competition Section.

Before taking on his current role, Jack held the position of New York Office Executive Partner between 2013 and 2018 – a time he rates as one of the highlights of his career to date.

“My years of client work opened up an opportunity to serve in a leadership role for the office I loved. While I wasn’t sure I was ready for the opportunity, Hugh Verrier encouraged me to step up and take on responsibility for boosting morale in the office, among other things.

“I was far less senior than the OEPs who preceded me, so our former Chair Duane Wall advised me to make sure I was visible (speaking at townhalls and other events), so that everyone knew I was the OEP.

“That also helped me decide to put my own mark on the role and not to try to follow anyone else’s blueprint. If it’s possible to accept that you know less than others while somehow believing you still know better than others, then I think that describes how I’ve approached my career.”

Jack’s time as OEP was marked by the office’s move to its current home at 1221 Avenue of the Americas.

He says: “It was a real milestone and a big change for everyone – getting used to working in a more open space and a new neighborhood – and I’m proud of the way we did it.

“The move was part of a period in which we saw the creation of the original Great Workplace Task Force, which ultimately became the New York Workplace Committee. The ingenuity of the taskforce and input from many other groups informed our thinking in managing our office move.

“Good communication was vital, including explaining the reasoning behind various aspects of the move, because it was done for the future of the Firm.

“The experience of the move and the resources of our new home have hopefully had a positive effect on morale, improved the way we work, and taken the office forward to a new level of work and collaboration.”

During his time with the Firm, Jack has worked on 12 trials – experiences he counts as among the most memorable of his career.

“I often tell associates that trials are literally the best and worst things you can do,” explains Jack. “They are certainly the most disruptive to your personal life and relationships because you need to fully immerse yourself in the case and leave the rest of your life behind.

“But they’re also the most challenging, risky and rewarding part of my job.”

The first trial Jack worked on was the representation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in their case against the tobacco industry.

He says: “This was a landmark case, because it was the first time that health insurers had sued the tobacco industry and won at trial.

“The trial was in Brooklyn, and I can remember it felt like it was us against the world, but we came out on top.

“It taught me a lot of things, including how much information gets left on the editing floor and how much each team member can have an impact on the outcome.

“It can be both inspiring and intimidating to realize how much of an impact each individual team member can have at trial. But I learned in that first trial that you can out-maneuver and out-hustle even the best opponents, which we certainly did.”

Another standout trial saw the Firm defend global credit rating company Experian.

He says: “They were being sued by a large competitor, FICO, on FICO’s home turf in Minneapolis federal court, and it was the first time I’d not only gone to trial in a matter on which I’d worked from the very beginning, but also handled my own witnesses at trial.

“It was also incredibly satisfying, because the jury ruled in our favor, despite FICO being the hometown favorite.”

“I’ve also been lucky enough to see many junior associates whom I’ve mentored become partner or take other significant roles, and that is an incredible personal highlight.”

Alongside his career highlights, it’s the people Jack has worked with who have inspired him most.

He says: “My early chief mentor was Vincent Fitzpatrick, with whom I first worked at Dewey Ballantine. Vin has since retired, but he and several other colleagues from that time were strong mentors to me for years. I still work with some of them today.

“I’ve also been lucky enough to see many junior associates whom I’ve mentored become partner or take other significant roles, and that is an incredible personal highlight.

“To see someone I interviewed or gave a first assignment to come through the ranks is gratifying, because I know the impact others had on my own career.

“What really impressed me about Vin was that, in the middle of an intense litigation, he always found a moment to pause, think, and evaluate what we were doing.

“In the heat of the battle it can be so easy to punch and counter punch, but Vin was a great strategic thinker and challenged me to think more long term.”

Jack offers this advice to anyone looking to get the most out of their career at the Firm: “Look for chances to showcase what you’re good at.

“There will be times when a client or a colleague will ask for a brief or a letter that might create scheduling conflicts with other work we need to do, but those are priceless opportunities to help them, make their lives easier, and show how good we are.

“You have to embrace those opportunities.

“We also need to keep on pushing and challenging ourselves to advance the art of the area in which we’re practicing, so I try to encourage my teams to think about how we can be different and creative.

“Finally, I’d say that life is short, so try to be a nice person. There are opportunities in every day to challenge someone or to fight for an advantage, even against colleagues, but life is so much better if you’re kind, build relationships, and enjoy what you’re doing.”

Jack is confident the Firm and New York office can look forward to a bright future. He says: “The current pandemic has brought a lot of uncertainty in every area of our lives, but we have strong foundations and are in good shape.

“In terms of New York, I think our OEP Eliza McDougall is doing an excellent job and is such a great example of high performance and professionalism for the entire office to follow. I feel privileged to have been the opening act for Eliza’s show.

“The current lockdown has been hard, but we’ve responded really well, and I’m as excited as everyone else about getting back into the office to see everybody again.”