I am a partner in the financial services regulatory practice. I studied Modern Languages at St Andrew’s University and then went to Law School at Nottingham, before joining Herbert Smith as a trainee in March 1997.
Variety of work
Herbert Smith has a really diverse practice. There are some general areas such as general corporate and general litigation as well as lots of specialist areas. That means that trainees get an opportunity to try lots of different types of law before deciding which one is right for them. Alongside a full formal training program there is also informal training. I’ve had the benefit of learning from leaders in their fields by working alongside them in some of the most high profile and important cases and investigations.
Corporate responsibility
Herbert Smith has a large corporate responsibility program which involves lots of different activities people can get involved in, for example, helping out in local communities around the office. In London we have a number of programs with local schools where we do mentoring programs. As an associate I was involved in the language mentoring scheme where we helped students from local schools with their French or Spanish GCSE studies. It was great to see them progress and gain confidence in speaking the language. As part of that program once a year we took the students to the Paris or Brussels office to give them an opportunity to practise their language skills in a real environment which they really enjoyed.
Innovation
In my practice area it’s not enough to know just how the law stands today. You need to be able to pre-empt what’s coming down the line. In order to be able to help clients prepare for changes to financial services regulation that are coming we spend a lot of time looking at what those changes might be and analysing how they might impact on our clients. It’s a service that our clients really appreciate. It helps them to be prepared for future changes and they enjoy the debate around it. And equally we enjoy it because it’s intellectually stimulating to be thinking about what’s coming next and to some extent crystal ball gazing the future of financial services regulation.
Another area where Herbert Smith has been innovative is the advocacy unit. We were the first firm to have a stand-alone advocacy unit which is really popular with trainees as part of their training. It offers clients a one-stop shop for litigation.
Client secondments
As a Senior Associate I also went on a client secondment to a large retail banking client. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay on. I was there at a really interesting time at the height of the credit crisis and gained some really invaluable experience which I’ve now brought back to Herbert Smith with me. When I decided to return to private practice, it was an obvious choice to come back to Herbert Smith. As a client I recognised that Herbert Smith had the leading financial services regulatory practice around. It also is the pre-eminent firm for disputes in the UK, Europe and in Asia. I feel like I’ve come back home and it’s great to be back.