Key clients: Anheuser-Busch InBev, Tesco, Smiths Group
Partner since 2015
As a teenager I was desperate to be a criminal defence barrister. I did work experience with a barrister when I was 16 and loved it. At some point after becoming more educated about the profession, I wanted to work as part of a big deal team.
I didn’t have preconceptions until I became a trainee at Freshfields. I just loved corporate. It was working in a big team and the camaraderie. There are some inspirational partners who do the M&A work that I basically wanted to be like. Being the person that brings it all together appealed.
You need to be able to cut through the noise as a corporate lawyer. On the huge transactions there are so many things going on, but what the client wants from you is to cut to three or four things they need to think about and then guide them to a range of solutions.
I’ve had access to some of the most amazing matters and talented people, which is why I’ve never gone anywhere else. Piers Prichard Jones and Jennifer Bethlehem are two people who have guided and helped me become a partner.
‘You need to be able to cut through the noise.’
Alison Smith, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
On every front, AB InBev has been unprecedented in terms of its size, its speed and the ability of the client. To have it as one of your first deals as a new partner is an incredible experience.
We have strength across the board, not only in M&A but capital markets and private equity. The nature of the deals that I do – all those components are present.
We want to continue to invest in the US. We’ve got some fantastic US partners, so already we’ve seen fruits of the investment there in terms of winning mandates. We want to be at the forefront of delivering these complex international mandates.
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