CO-HEAD, GLOBAL STRUCTURED FINANCE & DERIVATIVES LONDON LAW SCHOOL GRADUATION YEAR 1985 YEAR JOINED WEIL 1996 YEAR PROMOTED TO PARTNER 1997 HOMETOWN LONDON, U.K. What did you want to be as a child? It changed from day to day. Doctor, prime minister, architect, astronaut. I really only started thinking about a career in the law when I started watching L.A. Law as a teenager. If your young self could see you now, what do you think her reaction would be? She’d be surprised that I am working in a large global law firm in the City of London, as my original plan was to be a trade union lawyer. She wouldn’t be surprised that I became a partner and achieved my career goals. I was always pretty determined. Knowing what you know now, what might you have done differently when you were starting out? I may have been a bit more conventional when applying for training contracts. The spiky hair and Doc Martens didn’t go down well with everyone. However, I think being yourself is critical to a long and happy career somewhere, so maybe it was the right call. Describe a time when you had to make an important professional decision and how you went about selecting your course of action. The most important career decision I’ve had to make was whether to join Weil. I was one of the original team who joined the Firm in 1996 to set up the London office from scratch. Law firm start-ups were unheard of in the City, and no one had ever heard of Weil. I was comfortable at Clifford Chance, where I’d trained and had great partnership prospects. I listened to advice from family, friends, clients and other lawyers, and I researched the Firm but in the end I trusted my instincts. I was attracted by the challenge and the opportunity to control your own destiny. I also thought it would be a lot of fun and provide me with a more interesting career in the long run, and I was right! Looking back, what did you stress over that was unnecessary? What others – clients and colleagues – thought of me. All you can do is be yourself and do your best. What do you turn to when you need perspective or to unwind during a challenging time? During challenging times at work I am lucky enough to have a great group of colleagues who are also close friends and great sounding boards. We have worked together for many years, and talking to them provides great perspective. I also like to have a walk around the block. Sleeping on things also tends to work. I often wake up having solved my problems. What’s the best piece of professional advice you received? Grasp every opportunity you are given and commit yourself to it 100% even if you think it isn’t going to help your career or doesn’t interest you. This attitude really worked for me when unexpectedly I was sent on a client secondment as a very senior associate. The client turned out to be my first self-generated client at the Firm and the backbone of the practice for the first five years. What is your greatest success? Building a structured finance team from nothing at Weil in London and it still being successful over 20 years later. And becoming a partner. Grasp every opportunity you are given and commit yourself to it 100% even if you think it isn’t going to help your career or doesn’t interest you. “ ” WEIL WOMEN’S WISDOM · 29
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5NDgyMg==