Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP brochure 2017/18

the road to qualification doesn’t always have to be a traditional one. I applied to join Skadden because of its reputation for doing innovative work for a prestigious global client base. I thought being here would enable me to develop my skills as a lawyer and give me options as I considered the ultimate path I wanted to take. The firm has lived up to my lofty expectations.

A typical day here — if there ever is one — includes conference calls with the client and its other advisers, especially in relation to tax and financial due diligence matters, and producing draft documentation for review and comment by lawyers on the other side. On any given day, I might start the morning drafting and negotiating a lease or share purchase agreement, and then help a client with a more urgent matter, like, as I did recently, negotiating with customs officers to allow a client to execute lease documentation on his private jet rather than in their office space in the terminal. My work often involves managing completions in jurisdictions across Europe, which presents the challenge of working within the constraints of each local jurisdiction. It can be difficult, but it’s also a great learning experience.

I started off as a business studies and economics teacher at a college in West London and later worked as a multi-sports programme leader and an assistant in corporate fundraising for a children’s charity. As a real estate associate, I‘ve been fortunate to work on transactions involving transformative projects, such as the corporate real estate aspects of the acquisition and development of six hotel assets in Spain, a residential development joint venture involving real estate assets across Ireland, and the acquisition and development of the Alphabeta Building in Finsbury Square London.

“I applied to join Skadden because of its reputation for doing innovative work for a prestigious global client base .”

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