University: University of Warwick
Degree: Law
Year of qualification: 2022
Position: Associate
Department: Banking and finance
Pronouns: She/her

What attracted you to a career in law?

I studied law at university and was fascinated then, and still am, at the intellectually stimulating, dynamic and multifaceted nature of law. A career in law would’ve been a natural progression but in the year after graduating I decided to try my hands at marketing and advertising, neither of which suited me. However, that experience confirmed and solidified my desire to pursue a career in law.

Why solicitor not barrister?

One of the highlights of my earlier legal work experience was shadowing a King’s Counsel barrister on a criminal case at the Old Bailey. As interesting as that experience was, I found that the solitary working style of a barrister wouldn’t suit me. I enjoy working in a team and being in a collaborative environment.

Please outline your area of expertise. What might you do in a typical day?

I’m an associate in the banking and finance group at Mayer Brown. The department encourages junior associates to have a breadth of experience early on in different product areas, so I form part of the structured finance/securitisation and debt capital markets teams. As such, my day is varied and the work I do depends on how busy a product area is.

My day starts with preparing an updated to-do list on the various matters on which I’m working in order to prioritise my workload and plan my schedule for the day. I then check emails and respond to queries that came in overnight as typically several matters will be multi-jurisdictional with people working in different time zones. Depending on my schedule, I might have several client calls and/or internal team catch-up calls in the morning. For the rest of the day, I’m more likely to spend time getting stuck into drafting or reviewing, and marking-up transaction documents.

Mayer Brown regularly acts for lenders and borrowers (or originators) on securitisation transactions. However, when acting on the lender side of a securitisation transaction, I assist with preparing first drafts of the suite of transaction documents and, as these are predominantly transactions with a global element, I also manage the relationship with local counsel and conduct a review of the transactions documents prepared by them. I also manage discreet aspects of transactions with minimal supervision such as engagement of third-party providers, which would typically be corporate services providers, security agents and back-up servicers. On structured finance deals, I’m often given more autonomy and will be the lead associate managing transactions, such as a structured notes programme update involving a mix of both legal work and project management.

On a debt capital markets deal, I’ll often assist with preparing either the first draft of the offering circular or a supplement to the offering circular and the relevant ancillary documents with an appropriate level of supervision by a senior associate or partner.

Please discuss a current/recent specific deal/case, outlining your role in the matter.

I’ve recently completed a financing for a major entertainment company involved in home entertainment sales and rentals, television licensing, international distribution and other ancillary markets. This multi-jurisdictional transaction was led by our US office and the London finance team co-ordinated and managed the UK aspects of the transaction, including managing various practice groups such as the corporate, intellectual property (IP), restructuring and tax teams.

I took the lead in managing and co-ordinating the London office’s engagement with our US colleagues with an appropriate level of supervision by the senior counsel. The complex and constantly evolving nature of the transaction meant that I was constantly liaising with each of the relevant practice groups within the London office to assist the US team in adapting the transaction documents within a tight timeframe. There were a lot of technical legal questions that arose relating to tax law, licensing and distribution of IP rights, and restructuring, but through working collaboratively across offices and teams, Mayer Brown was able to successfully complete the transaction within the agreed timeframe.

What do you most/least enjoy about your career and why?

I thoroughly enjoy working on global deals. I get real satisfaction when a transaction has been successfully completed and our clients (lender/borrower) acknowledge our efforts and expertise.

The nature of a deal-led team is that there can be bouts of quiet periods and very long busy periods with no in-between. A steady flow of deals would be most ideal, but I have learnt to plan my holidays around this to make the best of the quiet periods – it’s now close to a win-win situation for me.  

How involved are you with business development and promoting the firm?

Mayer Brown is committed to business development and awards fee earners from partners through to trainees for their efforts in this regard.

As a junior associate, I’ve helped organise client events and have assisted with preparing pitches for new matters. Often, various local counsel will stop into our office when visiting London and I’ll join my colleagues at the meeting where current market trends and conditions are typically discussed. 

What makes your firm stand out from the rest?

Mayer Brown stands out for its commitment to delivering top-class legal service across the board – both from a global jurisdictional perspective and across its full service of product areas. The diverse and inclusive culture of the firm and the approachability of colleagues at all levels is another element that makes the firm stand out.

What advice do you have for budding solicitors who are contemplating a career in law?

It’s been a long road to qualification for me, so my advice is to make sure that a career in law is really what you want to do. 

Further, have an open mind in terms of areas of interest as I initially thought I was interested in contentious law, but through various work opportunities I ended up qualifying as a non-contentious transaction lawyer.

If your experience is anything like mine and your route to qualification is taking longer than expected, don’t give up – it’ll be worth the wait!

Describe the firm in three words.

Global, ambitious and forward-looking.

What’s your signature dish?

A poke bowl of jasmine rice, salmon sashimi slices and pickled ginger – simple, but so good!