Associate, Corporate Amelia Doughty Graduate in Economics, Exeter University
“I didn’t expect to go on secondment so early on in my career but the opportunity arose to be part of the legal team at a private equity client. I’ve gained invaluable experience of how clients operate and make decisions.”
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When I qualified I asked to join the corporate team because I enjoyed transactional work and wanted to be involved in a prestigious market-leading team. The work we do is challenging, high-profile and involves talented clients from businesses in all sectors. It also stretches your intellect and drives you to be the best lawyer you can be. It really suits people who are motivated by being more than just a lawyer. The culture at Kirkland & Ellis is definitely entrepreneurial and this manifests itself in lots of ways. You’re very autonomous straightaway, given a lot of responsibility and expected to take ownership of your work. But there are always other associates and partners around to support you. Everyone is incredibly bright and it is inspiring to be surrounded by such self-motivated and ambitious people. During my secondment with a private equity client I’ve worked across a wide range of deals in multiple jurisdictions and gained huge insights into the commercial side of deals. It’s been interesting experiencing
the work of other firms and lawyers from the client’s point of view and learning what their priorities are. It’s also been an opportunity to grow my personal, professional network. Almost all of the transactions I’ve worked on since qualification have been multi- jurisdictional, including a deal acting for Turkey’s largest private equity fund who were selling a Turkish asset to a Korean buyer, and a Swiss fund acquiring an African asset from a seller in Dubai. I got to travel to Istanbul and Dubai in my first few months of being qualified and gained exposure to a lot of high-quality work as a result. I also spent six months in our Hong Kong office as a trainee which was another great, international experience. On qualification, it’s definitely important to choose a practice that genuinely interests you. The firm’s clients need us to be responsive at all hours when deals are busy so you need to enjoy what you do. If you’ve demonstrated your commitment and interest to a particular practice group, the firm will always try and accommodate your qualification choice.
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