Daniel Fitz ’85 supports UNC School of Law and UNC’s Honors Program consistently because “we need more people who know how to think clearly,” he says.
Born and raised in Hickory, N.C., Fitz has made his home in London for a quarter century. Now group general counsel and company secretary for BT Group, the British telecommunications conglomerate, Fitz has watched political gridlock emerge on both sides of the ocean, more so in the U.S.
“People are preaching to their converted side,” he says. “Lawyers should be able to cut through all that and have a fact-based debate. We need more people with intellectual honesty who can sift the relevant from the irrelevant.”
At age 14, before he’d even set foot in the U.K., Fitz knew he wanted to live in London.
“Too much Dickens and too many Masterpiece Theatre and Upstairs, Downstairs episodes,” he says.
He got his chance the fall after completing his undergraduate studies at UNC. He had majored in economics at Chapel Hill, finishing his undergraduate degree in 1981, and deferred admission into law school for a year to undertake a diploma program at the London School of Economics that would better prepare him for a career in corporate law. London was dingy and rife with class divisions then, he says, “but gloriously charming.”
Six years later, after the Manhattan law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop, where he was an associate, sent him on a two-year assignment to its London outpost, he found the city changed beyond recognition, dynamic but with the charm intact. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies had taken effect; trade unions had weakened and militancy had declined; employment and wages were up.
“It was a much happier place,” he says, “and even the food was getting better.”
When Pillsbury Winthrop called him home, he wasn’t ready to go. He signed on with the investment bank Baring Brothers, followed by telco Cable & Wireless, which included a stint in Hong Kong. He took two career breaks: first, four months in Barcelona to improve his Spanish, then six months in Blowing Rock, N.C., to spend time with his aging parents. BT drew him back to the U.K. in 2010, and he’s been there ever since as head of a legal function of 380 people and a governance and compliance function of another 100 people.
The rigor of Carolina Law taught him to reason well, he says, and his experiences on the International Moot Court team familiarized him with public and private international law in a fun way. Transitioning to an overseas posting had its challenges, he says, but mainly because he was uncertain about the way to get the basics done: how to find a place to live and get the utilities hooked up.
“The first year is full of all those things that seem huge, but once you learn them, they fade into the background,” he says. His adjustment to London and Hong Kong were tough, but “New York was a bigger challenge, because it came first.” It helps that Fitz is someone who naturally likes people and is open to cultural differences. He learned to delight in being something of an outsider in his new environment. “It makes you special when you may not really be special,” he says. “People notice you. And that often opens doors.”
Now Fitz helps open doors for the next generation. He has mentored students who have come through UNC’s Winston House in London, and he recently joined the Honors Carolina advisory board. He stays connected to UNC through regular giving and has been corresponding with Beverly Sizemore, director of international and LL.M. programs, about deeper involvement with international programs at UNC School of Law.
Each new post has honed his adaptability. He accepts that uncertainty accompanies change, knowing that uncertainty rides tandem with excitement.
“If you enter new experiences with that mindset,” he said, “you’ll find it easier to adjust and benefit.”
This article was originally published in the Fall-Winter 2014 issue of Carolina Law.
-December 1, 2014