Life as a private practice corporate solicitor

I don’t know if there is an average day in corporate law.

I say that because I had a deal last week that suddenly became the priority and everything else had to go by the wayside.

I do try to plan my day. If I know I’ve got some drafting to do on an agreement, I’ll try to block out time, but it does depend on what crops up.

Lots of people, even other lawyers, don’t understand what corporate law is. Unfortunately, it’s not like Suits.

Corporate mainly involves acquisitions (buying and selling companies). 

But there’s also corporate governance – making sure your companies’ filings are kept up to date.

When working on deals, there will be a senior solicitor leading the deal and a junior supporting.

I’m two-and-a-half years’ PQE (post-qualification experience), so I would generally be involved from the beginning, doing the due diligence.

The specific tasks depend on whether you’re working for the seller or the buyer. If you’re acting for a seller, you would be:

• checking documents
• getting things uploaded to the data room (a secure online space where documents are held)
• helping with the replies to enquiries
• helping draft the ancillary documents

The senior would work on things like negotiating the share purchase agreement (SPA) and the bigger documents.

We normally get clients by re-referrals, so they come back after we’ve done a good job for them.

As a junior solicitor, there isn’t loads of pressure to bring clients, but you should be out networking.

The more senior you get, the more you are expected to bring in clients.

I wasn’t always focused on becoming a lawyer.

I really enjoyed A-level history, so I thought about doing that at university. Then I thought I could go on to be a teacher or a nutritionist.

But I went to some open days for law and my dad encouraged me to apply. He reminded me that you don’t have to go into law after you graduate, but it’s a good degree to have.

I ended up taking a year out after I graduated and volunteered with Citizens Advice, which is how I got my first paralegal job in personal injury law.

I always had my eye on corporate; I worked as a corporate paralegal for 18 months before my training contact.

When I was training, I picked subjects related to corporate, like commercial property.

At one point, I chose a wildcard and did some family law.

It did turn my head a bit, but I ultimately went back to corporate because you’re less emotionally involved dealing with people’s businesses. I know that’s important, but I just felt family law wasn’t for me.

Corporate’s a happy discipline – you’re either selling someone’s company and they’re skipping off into retirement or you’re buying something for someone and they’re starting a whole new chapter.

I think you naturally gravitate to an area that matches your skill set and what you enjoy.

I love completing a deal –  I get a buzz out of working into the early hours. It’s not for everyone, but I think when you’re in it, you just get your head down and get it done.

I know it sounds weird, but you’re all in the trenches together and hopefully the other side are the same.

More and more aspiring solicitors care about the culture of the firm they’re going to work in.

It’s a big reason I chose to work in a regional firm. I know you can get paid more in London, but there’s a higher expectation on you for that.

It doesn’t mean at regional firms that it’s lower quality work, but you get the benefit of having more of a work-life balance.

When you’ve got a big deal on, you’ve got to stay late and get the work done, but it really is when it’s needed – you’re not expected to stay until 2am every day.

The ethos at my firm is about community, work-life balance and wellbeing which is really important to me. They follow through with it: it’s not tokenistic.

If you’re at the beginning of your legal career, get out and network.

I love networking, but it wasn’t pushed when I first started, so I did it off my own back.

I had just moved down south from where I grew up and wanted to meet other junior lawyers, mainly for the peer support.

I started my networking with my local junior lawyers division, then later joined the committee and helped with planning events.

I enjoy coming up with ideas and finding out what’s happening on the coalface. I did that for three and a half years, eventually becoming the chair.

There are so many different things you can join – business lunches, breakfast networking, young professional groups and more.

It can be nerve-racking but the more you do it, the easier it gets.

The next steps in my career are about getting the most experience and knowledge I can.

I think I would like to progress up the ladder – it’s all about being transparent about your goals.

When I was a paralegal, I just wanted a training contract, but if you don’t tell people, how are they meant to know? They think you’re happy being a paralegal.

It might be scary being in an appraisal with a partner, but they get it: they’ve been in your shoes. Just talk to them on a human level and they’ll be honest.

They might say “not now” or suggest what you need to do to get there. That at least gives you something to work towards.

If I was to go back and do it again, I would say be more confident, believe in yourself and go for every opportunity.

Apply for everything because you don’t know where something might lead.

It might be completely unrelated to law, but it will still give you the skills that you need to get where you want to be.

I got my first paralegal job because I was volunteering – everything is a stepping stone.