Name: Suzanne Liversidge Firm: Kennedys Law Role: Global managing partner Trained at: DLA Year qualified: 1993 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? The transition from student, ie. getting up so early and having to wear a suit! We had a great collegiate group of trainees so we […]
Name: Rachel O’Connor Firm: Michelmores Role: Senior associate Trained at: Harold Michelmores (now incorporated into Wollens) Year qualified: 2010 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? A site visit with the Judge and counsel days before a trial where I was acting for a client who was defending […]
“To be a good restructuring lawyer, you need excellent judgement and an ability to stay calm and reassuring when under intense pressure.”
Name: Tara Waters Firm: Ashurst Role: Partner and co-CEO of Ashurst Digital Ventures Trained at: Allen & Overy Year qualified: 2009 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? I did not do a training contract as I am US-qualified. However, one of the first memories as a lawyer […]
Name: John Croft Company: Elevate Role: President and Co-Founder Trained at: University of life Year qualified: I didn’t Read his Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? My first memory of being a (sales) trainee was my first ever sales manager, Albert Johnson, who told me “When in doubt, go […]
Name: Victoria Sigeti Firm: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Role: Partner Trained at: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Year qualified: 2003 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? I remember sitting in my first conference with counsel, which was held in person on the Freshfields’ client floor within a few weeks of […]
Name: Ed Turner Firm: Taylor Vinters Role: Managing partner Trained at: Taylor Vinters Year qualified: 1995 Read his Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Feeling like an imposter. What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)? In the leadership context: “Do less. Be […]
Name: Samantha Hutchinson Firm: Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Role: Partner Trained at: Hogan Lovells Year qualified: 2001 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Walking into the office to close a project finance deal on a Monday and not leaving the office until Thursday afternoon. Clients and advisers were […]
Name: Andrew Thornton QC Firm: Erskine Chambers Role: Barrister/QC from March 2020 Trained at: Erskine Chambers and 8 Stone Buildings (now 10 Old Square) Year qualified: 1994 Read his Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a pupil? Having my pupil-masters pointing out the split-infinitives in my written work. What is the […]
Name: Helen Faulkner Firm: DAC Beachcroft Role: Head of insurance Trained at: CMS Year qualified: 1992 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Being part of the team on a huge piece of litigation involving a surveyor and a bank, led by Peter McGuire. I loved the team […]
Olivia McKendrick swapped M&A and corporate mandates for a life creating sanctuaries for indigenous communities
Name: Edward Allen Firm: Enyo Law Role: Partner Trained at: Dechert Year qualified: 2005 Read his Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Being asked to serve court papers by hand on an alleged fraudster. He took exception, threatened physical violence and manhandled me out of his office. I threw […]
Name: Angela Yotov nee Coutinho Organisation: Close Brothers Group Role: Group General Counsel Trained at: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Year qualified: 2004 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Being sent to Paris to deliver a large envelope containing the paperwork to start a high profile corporate bid. The […]
“When working on a large transaction and you can’t see the end because you’re buried, just focus on what needs to be done that day and make sure you do it.”
“My old headmaster introduced me to the concept of hubris and taught me an important lesson in humility.”
“Be true to yourself and trust your struggle: if you have the technical skills and the origination skills, your opportunity will come. Once you have your opportunity, realise how lucky you are and constantly strive to improve while also making a positive difference in the world.”
“I always emphasise to pupils that clients don’t care about pursuing theoretical legal arguments no matter how interesting they might seem to lawyers.”
“Never think you’re too good for any work. It’s not an uncommon attitude but it’s misguided and incredibly frustrating for those with whom you are working.”
“The wisest thing anyone ever said to me? ‘You must never assume that the person instructing you has any idea what they’re talking about’.”
“Whenever I met my CEO he would always ask what I had done this month to go out of my comfort zone? I still assess myself today against his test. It works.”
In the first in our series profiling members of 2020’s Hot 100 we meet Mishcon de Reya’s Susannah Kintish.
Khasruz Zaman trained at Slaughters, also working at Barclays and Simmons & Simmons before quitting the profession to become a teacher.
“Pride is not about making a statement for someone else, it’s about celebrating victories in the battle for love and acceptance,” says Bakers’ Rachel Mullan Lipman.
Name: Frances Coats Organisation: The Ardonagh Group Role: Chief Counsel – Corporate & Commercial Trained at: White & Case Year qualified: 2007 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Almost as soon as I’d started my training contract, I was sent to Vienna on a few hours’ notice […]
Name: Caroline Rae Organisation: Herbert Smith Freehills Role: Partner Trained at: Herbert Smith Freehills Year qualified: 2007 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? I had a wonderful six month secondment to Hong Kong as a trainee and I remember my first completion there as if it were […]
Dentons’ Natasha Manning on some of the specific challenges bi people face.
Name: Clare Thomas Organisation: CMS Role: Partner Year qualified: 2000 Read her Hot 100 profile What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Arriving for my final seat in real estate, expecting to sit in open plan but being guided to a desk in the corner of a senior partner’s office. Keen to impress, […]
In Amanda Hanmore’s first week in Oxford City Council, she was tasked with reviewing hundreds of ancient byelaws from management of allotments to dogs rights.
“I always thought I’d qualify into a corporate team, and was surprised how much I enjoyed my finance seat,” says Kirkland debt finance partner Kirsteen Nicol.
Liverpool headquartered Weightmans has enjoyed a comfortable few years, which has seen it keep hold of its position of as one of the UK’s top 50 firms by revenue.
Paul Jenkins was a bold choice for managing partner, and now he’s running the firm during one of the most turbulent periods in its history. 15 July: Ashurst partners: ‘We can turn things around’ 26 July: Ashurst CFO quits
The story of the re-entry of the Big Four accountancy firms into legal services has occupied many minds in the last year or so. But in the UK, there is one notable absence – Deloitte. While its rivals EY, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have all been busy hiring senior lawyers from top private practice firms Deloitte has stayed away from the UK market.
Last November Irwin Mitchell announced that it was acquiring southeast firm Thomas Eggar. The deal gave the northern-focused Irwin Mitchell an additional six offices in the south of England and has boosted the firm’s turnover to £250m.
Allen & Overy’s (A&O) new management outlined their strategy to partners last month in the 45-degree Dubai heat. But what were the hot topics on the agenda?
Private prosecution boutique Edmonds Marshall McMahon caused a stir earlier this year after it made the biggest lateral hires in its short history.
Orrick’s global boss and London head talk about bringing the firm’s base in the capital up to scratch to meet the needs of global clients, Microsoft and Instagram.
Linklaters’ new managing partner Gideon Moore speaks out about his plans to review everything at the firm to “check that what we’re doing still makes sense”.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) launched a new plan of action on Thursday (28 April) that gave an enticing hint at its plans for expansion in the US.
Manchester has become a competitive breeding ground for back office-style legal processing centres and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) wants to be one of the city’s biggest players.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is among a minority of international firms to have by-passed Hong Kong and entered into Greater China via an office in Shanghai. Six years after its 2006 launch in Shanghai, the firm expanded its mainland China footprint to Beijing and most recently it announced a plan to set up a base in Hong Kong.
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has had a turbulent few years. Since the merger with SJ Berwin in 2013 created a global firm made up of three separate partnerships, bosses have struggled to keep a hold on ‘big-hitter’ partners in the UK, keep finances in check and integrate 2,800 lawyers including 600 partners worldwide.
Laura Uberoi is a Council Member at the Law Society and, alongside Kayleigh Leonie, represents junior lawyers of 0-5 years PQE. In October Laura was elected as president of her local law society and in doing so became one of the youngest and most junior solicitor to ever hold such a role across the country. […]
I feel like a tranquillised hippo. My limbs weigh two tonnes and my brain’s too heavy for my head. It’s November and I have 3,000lb-ungulate jet lag, so I must be at MIPIM Asia. For readers who only know MIPIM Cannes, MIPIM Asia is Cannes’ more refined Hong Kongese cousin. Each year about 900 property […]
Julia Salasky, CEO of CrowdJustice, the online crowdfunding platform for legal action, spoke at the Law Society’s Future of Law lecture. In this adapted version she shares her experience using innovative technologies to connect lawyers and clients with funds to take legal action
While firms are beginning to embrace the opportunities that tech can provide, the advice sector remains underfunded when it comes to digitisation.
A few weeks ago, I was asked by a paralegal at my firm whether or not they should apply be applying for vacation schemes or if they should go straight to the training contract applications. To be frank, it stumped me, as it’s something I’d not given much thought to since qualifying. It brought to […]
By Richard Oliphant The market for legal services is highly competitive. The recent report by The Lawyer and Intapp (‘Navigating a new reality in the client-empowered’) revealed how law firms are investing heavily in ‘intelligent automation’ technologies and using data analytics to improve client service and stay ahead of the pack. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning […]
In the wake of the Brexit vote, there is a need for some clarity on the general subject of globalisation and a law firm’s strategic positioning. First, globalisation is not a decision. It is a force and, for all intents and purposes, a force of nature. It is the movement of people, ideas, products, services, […]
After last week’s historic decision by the British people to leave the EU many will want know immediately what the implications are.
Bison Bank head of legal Afonso Cardoso de Menezes has spent his career uniting Iberian and Asian markets – now he is building a team around him to satisfy his employer’s global ambitions
Thomas Loest is part of a legal team helping to oil the wheels at one of the UK’s biggest food processors as it battles to maintain production through these extraordinary times
William Grant & Sons GC Greg Bargeton is now a part of the executive and has assembled a strong legal team capable of dealing with almost anything that is thrown at it
A2Dominion head of legal Ausilia Matraxia sees social justice as an essential element in her job
Adam Hughes, GC at renewable power company Lekela, is at the forefront of the battle against climate change and helping to drive the business in a region fraught with danger
Vattenfall’s UK director of legal, Sandra Leece, believes in giving her team members full ownership of projects
Douglas Ruley decided to follow his heart and join a not-for-profit organisation leading the fight in the courts to protect the environment
Alexis Alexander always wanted to be in a general counsel role, even though she did not know it when she began her legal career at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Her two secondments while at the magic circle firm helped her realise that being part of the in-house team at a company was where she’d be able […]
At the start of 2016 restructuring partner Ashley Katz became the latest big-hitter to move over to Fried Frank Shriver Harris & Jacobson’s growing London base.
Shami Chakrabarti says she was surprised that the 13 January announcement of her imminent departure from civil rights charity Liberty attracted so much attention. Sandwiched between the deaths of celebrities David Bowie and Alan Rickman, the news still made the front page of several national newspapers, notably left-leaning The Guardian and The Independent
Since appearing in The Lawyer Hot 100 two years ago Reed Smith’s Tamara Box has taken on a new role at the US firm
John McDonnell QC was named in the Hot 100 in 2005 for his diverse practice, celebrity client roster and the launch of his new chambers, Thirteen Old Square.
Now in her 16th year at Travers Smith, Helen Croke has been key to the success of the firm’s private equity group. One of eight partners in the firm’s dedicated private equity and M&A team, Croke qualified at Travers in 2001 and moved up into partnership seven years later. The team has remained largely unchanged […]
Cathy Pitt is building CMS’ strength in the ever-changing world of funds
Jonathan Berger has found the ideal place to pursue his media work
Dan Oates is helping to build Fried Frank’s London private equity team
Mona Arshi is a prize-winning poet and former human rights lawyer. She recently won the Forward prize for best first collection. You began your training contract at JR Jones in the same week that Doreen and Neville Lawrence instructed the firm on the murder of their son Stephen. How did that time influence the rest […]
Hays general counsel for UK and Ireland Evelyn Styles tells The Lawyer why she chose a role in-house over private practice. Did you start your career in-house? I trained at a small high street practice and it gave me first hand experience of dealing with all aspects of legal maters, such as contract and commercial […]
Travis Perkins general counsel Deborah Grimason grew up around business – though she’d be the first to admit that her father’s bakery delivery business in rural Northern Ireland was a far cry from the FTSE 100 company she now guides through legal minefields. Grimason knew two things growing up: that she wanted to enter a profession […]
Natalie Sherborn left the criminal bar and is now a senior associate at defamation and reputation management firm Schillings. She tells us about how and why she made the move. What’s your background? I went to a state comprehensive school in Essex. I don’t know if anyone in our family even knew what a barrister was, […]
Maclay Murray & Spens partner Jill Reid entered private practice after 25 years in-house with Chevron UK, Shell and Dana Petroleum. Why did you make the move into private practice? I feel that my role [at Dana] as General Counsel and Company Secretary in an oil and gas operating company having assets in multiple jurisdictions with […]
Travers Smith’s David Patient gives his advice for those moving into a management role. Was moving into a management position always a career objective for you? It has certainly not always been a career objective for me, but something that evolved over time. I had the good fortune to have the opportunity to open our […]