Corporate finance
understandthisplacewasafantasticopportunity –thebuildingsmay lookunassumingbut inside themarethepeoplecomingupwiththebusinesses of tomorrow. Itwasareal opportunitytoseehow peopleuse legal providersandwhatclients lookfor intheir lawyers.” Theclient isking After his trainingcontract, Griffith-Jones qualified intoSullivan&Cromwell’s general practice group– adeliberatelybroadarea that eschews thenarrowsilos common tomany law firms. Thegroup is anunusual (althoughnot unique) wayof structuring thecorporate sideand is responsible for everything fromcapital markets andM&A tocommercial real estate, toproject financing transactions. “Wedon’t drawasmanydistinctionsbetween different transactional practiceareas asother firms,”Griffith-Jones confirms. “S&C’s view is that our lawyers canbecomemore rounded business lawyersbyunderstanding that these distinctions aresometimes artificial when viewed fromtheclient’sperspective.”Heappreciates that developingamore focusedpractice ina specificareagives young lawyersexposure to highnumbersof transactionsof a similar type early in their career, whichcan in turnpromotea verydeepandnuancedunderstandingof such transactions. The flipside is thatworking ina largeandvarieddepartment allows for a lot of crosspollinationandsharingof ideasbetween practiceareas thatmight otherwise remain totally separate. ‘Corporatelaw’ isitselfanebulousareaofpractice. Whereasafinancinglawyerwilladviseonthedebt inabusiness, throughoutthecapitalstructure, corporatelawyersareprincipallyfocusedonthe equityfinancingof fundsandbusinessesand howthatequityinteractswiththeotherrightsof shareholdersandotherstakeholdersandthe broadercapitalstructure.Thiscomestogether in strategicM&Aactivity,whichdrawstogetherall ofthesestrands.Whileanytransactionislikelyto involvemyriadspecialists,eachwiththeirownarea
Corporate finance lawyers adviseclients onall aspects of thebuyingandsellingof interests inbusinesses or business assets, relationshipswith their shareholders, corporategovernanceandequity financing matters. This includes advisingon compliancewithcompany lawprocedures, the raisingof equity financingand, in thecase of cross-border transactions, compliance withdomesticand foreign laws. It is possible toworkprimarilyonmergers and acquisitions (M&A)withpublicor privately ownedcompanies. Alternatively, acorporate lawyermay focus onequity capitalmarkets work, theprivateequity, venturecapital or hedge fundsectors, or spend theirwhole career as ageneralist assistingSMEs and small-scaleentrepreneurs. Thechoicebetweenacareerasabarrister andsolicitor istheclassicfork inthepaththatall wannabe lawyersmust face.However, forDavid Griffith-Jones–acorporatefinancesolicitorat Sullivan&Cromwell – itwasnotadecisionthatcost himtoomanysleeplessnights. “Apieceofadvice Iwasgivenwas:whatarethecoreskillsthatyou want todevelopwhiledoingthis job?”herecalls. “Do thosecoreskills leadyou inthedirectionyouwant togo?” Accordingly, heweighedupthekeycompetencies necessaryforeachprofession. “Asa juniorbarrister youaremostly lookingatcivil procedural rules, the evidential side– it’sverytactical, veryprocedural,” hereports. “However, asa juniorcorporatesolicitor I spendmoretimegettingto learnwhatbusinesses wantandalsowhytheywant topursuethesegoals.” Thechancetoworkforsomeof themostpowerful forces inthebusinessworldwas irresistible– it wasthesolicitor routeforGriffith-Jones,more particularlycorporatefinance.Hisfascinationwith whatmakesbusinesses–andthepeoplebehind them–tickwascementedduringhistraining contractatSullivan&Cromwell,whenhewas secondedtoaprivate-equityfirminSiliconValley ontheworldfamousSandHillRoad, anexperience hedescribesasthehighlightofhiscareersofar. “To
For more firms that work in this practice area, please use the “Training contract regional indexes” starting on p197.
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