Banking and finance
and I sat with someone who worked largely in leverage finance,” he explains. “I loved the work in this seat, as well as my secondment to Goldman Sachs. I qualified into leverage finance off the back of those experiences.” While Sarbajeet’s area of law “involves a broad spectrum of products”, he describes his work as heavily transactional: “We do a combination of advising on commercial aspects, advising on the legal aspects of financings and transaction management.” He continues: “Broadly speaking, leverage financings are those related to an acquisition – a large part of what we do is connected to a tangible M&A event.” His work in this area has brought about many transactional highlights but when asked about the highlight of his career to date, Sarbajeet doesn’t hesitate: “For me, it was making partner.” We do a combination of advising on commercial aspects, advising on the legal aspects of financings and transaction management “Not so much from a perspective of reaching a point of personal success, but rather that it confirmed that the industry works on merit – the idea that hard work and talent will set you up to achieve a level of success such as partner,” he adds. Aside from the technical aspects of his job, Sarbajeet enjoys the opportunities to work within a team. “Transactional law, but also specifically finance and leverage finance, is a team sport. I love this part of the job – working together with partners, senior associates, juniors and trainees. It’s an aspect of the job that makes it a much less lonely experience, especially when you might find yourself working late hours,” Sarbajeet explains.
Banking and finance is a global industry involving a wide variety of financial products, ranging from simple bank loans to companies, to highly structured financing arrangements across multiple jurisdictions. The rise of internationalisation and the development of increasingly sophisticated financing structures mean that modern banking law and practice is becoming ever more complex. In the post-financial crisis era, banking and finance lawyers find themselves at the forefront of the evolution and recovery of the industry. For some aspiring lawyers, a career in law is almost inevitable due to family ties to the profession – after all, they often say “it’s not what you know, but who you know”. But this isn’t always the case. Sarbajeet Nag started his legal studies in India almost 20 years ago and now considers how he came to the decision to practise as a solicitor: “The barrister profession in India was based quite heavily on personal connections, which made it hard for outsiders to just walk in and be successful.” As a result, “becoming a solicitor was a much more desirable career option” and one that was more accessible for someone like Sarbajeet who didn’t have a personal background in law. After overcoming several hurdles on his journey into the profession – including that at the time of applying for training contracts, there was only a “relatively small group of firms hiring graduates directly from law schools in India” – Sarbajeet is now a partner in the leverage finance team at international law firm Milbank LLP. Leverage finance Looking back, Sarbajeet is grateful for the experiences he was exposed to during his training contract at magic circle firm Allen & Overy LLP – experiences that have “shaped” his career to date. “During my training contract, I completed my first seat in the finance department. The team had several subsections
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