Episode 6 - The Path to Partnership

So you qualified into the team and then what was the journey being like from there to the point where you're at now?

So there's definitely been a lot of evolution, both in the disputes team, but also I think in me and my kind of development over the years.

So when I first qualified, um, contentious insolvency and insolvency litigation was still a huge thing.

But there have been various kind of trends and waves of types of litigation or contentious matters that I've been lucky enough to be kind of part of.

So arbitration became very trendy when I was a junior lawyer.

So I spent a lot of my time as a junior lawyer working on arbitration matters.

I then kind of pivoted a little bit into some compliance advisory work and regulatory advisory work, which then developed into the investigations practice, all whilst kind of continuing with general commercial litigation alongside.

What year did you make partner? Beginning of 2022.

Okay.

And how did you find that transition from being an associate or counsel to being a partner? Because I imagine that's it's kind of what everyone aspires to to be when you're working through your legal career but it must be quite a shift so how did you find that shift and also what exactly does a partner do that's so different to you know when you're when you're associate senior associate

etc sure so day to day kind of work and client facing matters i don't think there is that much difference between being a council who is on track to becoming a partner and being a partner and it's kind of tested before they give you the title.

So work-wise, I don't feel like there has been too significant a change.

I think where the gear shift really came for me was kind of unlocking new levels of kind of management and involvement in how the business is run.

So, for example, I became one of the early careers partners.

You know, that was something that I had been involved in before.

I kind of unlocked a new level of involvement in that process.

Ditto with Pro Bono and ditto with Women at Weil.

They are, again, things that I was involved with as counsel.

But becoming a partner, you kind of become more responsible and more involved in the decision making in those aspects of the firm.

Just out of interest, why does

everybody want to become partner? What is it about that being kind of the pinnacle of your career that everyone's aiming for?

I guess, particularly people at Weil who are constantly striving to be the best and reach the absolute top of the profession, it is natural that people are ambitious and want to become partners.

And I think that was the same for me.

I am ambitious, I wanted to be a partner.

But I knew that I was already fulfilling certain aspects of the role, certainly as it came to managing cases and dealing with clients.