What is your proudest career moment? I closed a big wind farm portfolio acquisition, a joint venture between the developer and investor client with an associated debt financing – the deal was really complicated and had a very tight timescale with a hard cut off at midnight on the last day of the exclusivity period. We worked around the clock to deliver for the client and closed the deal just before the deadline… I led the transaction and was really proud of myself at the end of it. What was the biggest mistake you made as a trainee? What did you learn from it? This is a hard one, as I made a lot of mistakes and choosing the biggest one is a bit of challenge! It’s a toss-up between (a) holding up multiple completions of new leases on a significant industrial estate when I managed to do a priority search of pretty much the whole industrial estate and not just the lease area we were completing on (in the days when it was all done by fax and post and you couldn’t just change things online), and (b) missing a signature on a key document for an AIM Admission, realising after the client had just left and having to run down the street in a suit and heels at 2am
waving my arms in the air so the client didn’t get into the cab and head off (again in the days before we had widespread electronic signature capabilities). I learnt that attention to detail is key and you need to check, check and check again. If you could describe your leadership style in three words, what would they be? I expect my perceptions will differ wildly from those of my family and my colleagues! Focused, compassionate, collaborative. What is your favourite thing to do in your free time? Taking my kids to their favourite sports and watching them develop with their skills and confidence in those. Given what you know now, what advice would you give to your trainee self? Two main things (a) the words “I don’t know the answer to that, I will come back to you” are not a sign of weakness and (b) clients don’t want perfect legal solutions, they want commercial solutions, so get into the mindset early.
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