In this episode of Trainee Insights – the podcast which shines a light on life as a trainee lawyer at Ropes & Gray in London – we speak with private capital transactions partner, Libby Todd, who outlines her journey into law and her work as a private equity (PE) transactional lawyer, whilst sprinkling some sage life advice along the way. Some highlights of our discussion include:
How the European PE market changed: The European PE industry has matured significantly over the past 20 years. One trend has been the specialisation of funds on specific sectors. This has meant that a PE lawyer's sector expertise has become very important.
The life sciences sector offers a good case study of this trend. The complexity and regulatory issues in life sciences mean that PE clients and their sector teams have increasingly become very knowledgeable and this deep sector expertise needs to be mirrored by their legal counsel.
Why 'Public-to-Privates' (P2Ps) are a current market trend: In the UK and Europe, many public companies are attractively priced compared with the high prices people are seeing for private companies. PE houses are looking at whether there are opportunities to take these businesses private.
How gender diversity is nurtured at Ropes & Gray: Ropes & Gray has been repeatedly recognised for its accomplishments in gender diversity. Gender parity at every level, from trainee solicitors to partnership, has always been important to the firm.
Libby is a co-chair of Ropes & Gray's London Women’s Forum, which helps create networking and business development opportunities for female lawyers with clients, as well as cultivating mentoring relationships between junior and more senior female lawyers internally.
What you would tell yourself before you started as a trainee: Libby offers some wise words when she says: “The best things in my career have come when I’ve just leaned into things, given it a go, not been too self-conscious, and not been anxious about it. 'Don’t worry, just give things a go' – I think is a really good mantra.”
To listen to the full podcast, please click here.
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