why a&o
training
- 6 month
- secondment
- large trainee intake
- litigation course
- networks within training
- supervision by someone more senior
culture
- friendly
- law fair
- cambridge pres
- bright network
- CAMWIB
- welfare: minds matter network
international
- exciting
- systematise practice?
- organically international
What is special about their client-care?
Innovation - Fuse, consulting
Reputation - FT award for innovative firm 6 times
Scale
why commercial law
International
○ Language, inter-jurisdictional
○ Link to degree and difficult of systematising practice
Fast-paced and high stakes
○ Im ambitious
○ Suits my skill set - creative solutions, ambitious, academic rigour, disciplined etc.
Interested in commerce
○Business a level
○ Understanding what drives a business, what it is trying to achieve
○ Factors that influence how business practice happens (YE)
○ Competition that goes with commerce and drive to achieve competitive advantage
○ Constantly changing
○ Again degree - various factors that influence law inc. religion
- Client work
why theology
Diversity of experience and Skills
○ Understanding danger of homogenising culture and law
○ But also skills from theology of analysis, research = useful for law
Content
○ Religion affects law - A&O has an Islamic Finance department
○ Religion as a concept = key to society. Politics etc. learn how aspects of society interact
○ Law is a topic that comes up in my degree quite a lot - evolution HR. but also parts of law firm outside law itself e.g. pro bono is something I discuss
solicitor rather than barrister?
- Barrister = self-employed
- Attended Middle Temple and experienced barrister chamber
- Didn’t like the training pupillage process as much
- Think solicitor suits my style of work better – research, initial contact with client etc.
- Job security of solicitor
Have you considered other professions? Finance? Consulting? Why not? Wouldn’t you rather be in investment banking because of XYZ? How does the role of a lawyer differ from a banker/consultant?
- Both demand strong work ethic and provide interesting, fast-paced work
- Finance = generally more quantitative
- Went to BNP dinner - one of A&Os clients
- Greater diversity of focus in law – can focus on finance but also technology etc.
- Also like the further study required in law, feel like it will be a good way to ease myself into new path
- Critical thinking, analysis of texts/documents appeals to me more
qualities of good commercial lawyer
Professional Communication - CULS
Resilience - my own commitment to law
Creativity and innovation - sub-editor and producer
main competitors
Slaughter and May
○ Internationally organic at A&O
3 core practice areas
- Banking
- Corporate
International capital markets
- Corporate
business strategy
- High quality client care
- Innovation - fuse
- AD&s - consulting, edocuments
What practice area/sector should we expand into?
New geographic areas
Health?
How could we attract new clients?
- Marketing
- Build partnerships
- Host events
- Networking
How Would You Define Commercial Awareness?
- Not just knowledge of industry but also a mind-set
- Making connections between approaches and commercial context
- Not just achieved through reading the news, seen in experiencing different cultures/speaking to people from different business backgrounds
What caused the financial crisis? Do you think bankers are to blame?
- Too much lending – easy access to cash to buy houses or start businesses
- Deregulation so people/banks could gamble more than they could afford to lose
- Led to banks no longer lending to each other or people, some of whom had perfectly good businesses but did not have access to money
- Bankers = to blame
○ Lent money to get commission without doing their homework
○ When things went badly the people who they lent to did not have any valuable assets to pay them back with
○ People completely stopped lending due to the panic this caused, limited growth
What do you see as the main challenges facing commercial law firms today? How about our law firm?
- Particularly with city law firms, there is the challenge of regional firms – clients favouring firms in own region if they are able to provide same level of expertise
- Brexit
- corona
- Technology and keeping up to date with innovation
Tell me about a recent legal story that you’ve been keeping up to date with?
Huawei
LVMH
Google
What problems will businesses have if the UK does not secure passporting rights?
- Passporting = regulation of financial services
- If a certain firm is authorised to undertake certain activities by the regulator of one EU member state, it can apply for a ‘passport’, and it can do business throughout the EU without needing further authorisation.
Trade becomes difficult, possible increased tax
- If a certain firm is authorised to undertake certain activities by the regulator of one EU member state, it can apply for a ‘passport’, and it can do business throughout the EU without needing further authorisation.
Why did china grow so fast?
- Resources within China itself
- Capitalism has shown us that overly-fast growth of capitalism can be problematic (state = very involved in economies. Isolated themselves from outside influence)
IMF said they had to open themselves. Economics were opened to global markets, currencies crashed. Economies aren’t strong enough to compete with others – growing really fast but couldn’t keep up. Domestic production was more expensive than imports.
- Capitalism has shown us that overly-fast growth of capitalism can be problematic (state = very involved in economies. Isolated themselves from outside influence)
Why is China’s growth slowing?
- Rapidly aging population
- Falling birth rate – one child policy
- Slowing global economy
- Slowed investment in fixed assets e.g. factories and machinery
- Government has become more restrained in providing credit to firms and individuals
- Tax cuts – but less effective than infrastructure spending
What is the impact of decreasing interest rates?
personal
- cheaper to borrow
- decreased return for savers
- cheaper loans
- banks = less willing to lend
economy
- exports = more competitive, imports are more expensive
- decrease in borrowing costs
- encourages economic growth through increased spending
Who are the winners and losers from Brexit?
- Winners = international businesses, pound has lost value
Losers = UK businesses who rely on international exports
Please summarise what has been happening in the current trade war between the US and China.
- Lighthizer said that the value of the tariffs imposed was based on U.S. estimates of the actual economic damage caused by alleged theft of intellectual property and foreign-ownership restrictions that require foreign companies to transfer technology.
What does the law firm of the future look like?
Globalisation - a&o looking to expand
Technology - Fuse
Individualised services - edoc, consulting Ad&s
