‘I was greeted at the airport by a banker, lawyer, notary and driver’ – Vitruvian Partners GC Chris Bulger

‘I was greeted at the airport by a banker, lawyer, notary and driver’ – Vitruvian Partners GC Chris Bulger

Chris Bulger – GC, Vitruvian Partners Year of qualification: 2007 Slaughter and May, 2005-14 Goldman Sachs, 2014-18 Vitruvian Partners, 2018-present Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer? I have been involved with alternative asset managers since 2005, during the early stages of my training contract with Slaughter and May. I became very …

‘If you like a fast pace, private equity will deliver’ – CPP Investments Europe legal chief Leigh Partridge

‘If you like a fast pace, private equity will deliver’ – CPP Investments Europe legal chief Leigh Partridge

Leigh Partridge – Managing director, head of legal (Europe), CPP Investments Year of qualification: 2008 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, 2006-17 CPP Investments | Investissements RPC, 2017-present I love the diversity of deals that come across my desk as a PE lawyer. The opportunity to learn about different sectors and businesses while still building deep relationships with …

‘You are working with some of the sharpest minds on the planet’ – Bregal Investments funds GC Jonathan Pugh-Smith

‘You are working with some of the sharpest minds on the planet’ – Bregal Investments funds GC Jonathan Pugh-Smith

Jonathan Pugh-Smith – GC, funds, Bregal Investments Year of qualification: 2010 Berwin Leighton Paisner, 2008-11 International Justice Mission, 2011-12 Berwin Leighton Paisner, 2012-13 Bregal Investments, 2013-present Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer? To be honest, I did not specifically set out to become a private equity lawyer. I have always sought …

‘The PE industry is in a unique position to effect change’ – SilverLake EMEA GC Katherine Brody

‘The PE industry is in a unique position to effect change’ – SilverLake EMEA GC Katherine Brody

Katherine Brody – General counsel (EMEA), Silver Lake Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, 2008-14 Silver Lake, 2014-present Silver Lake turned me into a private equity lawyer. Before that I was working as an M&A generalist, mostly for large corporate clients, in private practice at Skadden in London. This was a decade ago, and I …

‘Private equity must be prepared to explain the benefits it brings’ – CD&R’s Simon Tinkler

‘Private equity must be prepared to explain the benefits it brings’ – CD&R’s Simon Tinkler

Simon Tinkler – Senior legal adviser, CD&R Year of qualification: 1993 Clifford Chance, 1995-2022 CD&R, 2022-present Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer? I loved the intersection between the law and the real world. On each transaction you get to understand a new business or sector, and then to think about the …

‘In private equity, no day is ever the same’ – Montagu GC Alexandra Openshaw

‘In private equity, no day is ever the same’ – Montagu GC Alexandra Openshaw

Alexandra Openshaw – General counsel, Montagu Year of qualification: 2010 Macfarlanes, 2008-15 Winton Group, 2016-23 Montagu, 2023-present Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer? I was previously a funds lawyer at a private practice firm and wanted to be client-side from early on. No day is ever the same – there’s so …

‘Creating value and preventing value destruction are two sides of the same coin’ – Livingbridge GC Jeremy Dennison

‘Creating value and preventing value destruction are two sides of the same coin’ – Livingbridge GC Jeremy Dennison

Jeremy Dennison – General counsel, Livingbridge Year of qualification: 2009 Travers Smith, 2007-12 Goodwin Procter, 2012-14 MUSTO, 2014-15 Travers Smith, 2015-18 Livingbridge, 2018-present Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer? My first exposure to private equity was during my training contract at Travers Smith, which has one of the leading mid-market private …

‘The DWF take-private was headline-grabbing and justifiably so’ – Inflexion GC Andrew Stevens

‘The DWF take-private was headline-grabbing and justifiably so’ – Inflexion GC Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens – General counsel, Inflexion Year of qualification: 2010 Slaughter and May, 2008-13 Och-Ziff Capital Management, 2014-16 HPS Investment Partners, 2017 Inflexion, 2017-present Within law, the transactional side felt like the natural destination for me and, within that, PE always stood out.

‘I work with the best M&A lawyers in the world’ – Carlyle’s Heather Mitchell

‘I work with the best M&A lawyers in the world’ – Carlyle’s Heather Mitchell

Heather Mitchell – Partner, chief risk officer, head of EMEA and global general counsel for Investments, Carlyle Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, 1996-99 Kaiser Group International, 1999-2001 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, 2001-02 Carlyle, 2002-present I absolutely love my job. There’s a natural synergy in my roles as GC for global investments and chief risk …