Talent wars, private equity and number crunching: LB’s most read features of 2024

Talent wars, private equity and number crunching: LB’s most read features of 2024

From transatlantic mergers to dizzying new heights of competition in the war for talent at both associate and partner level, 2024 has been busy. To help you reflect on the year that was and what’s coming next around the corner, here are LB’s 20 most popular features of 2024, as voted for by you – …

Youle, Dejonghe, Levine and the top women in private equity – LB’s most popular interviews of 2024

Youle, Dejonghe, Levine and the top women in private equity – LB’s most popular interviews of 2024

From high-profile managing partners to leading GCs and barristers, the LB team interviewed dozens of the leading names in law about everything from mental health, to women in law to strategy in 2024. Here are our most popular interviews of the year. The Private Equity Elite: Meet all the top general counsel in PE What …

‘Co-founding an investment firm was the biggest learning curve of my career’ – Hg GC Samantha McGonigle

‘Co-founding an investment firm was the biggest learning curve of my career’ – Hg GC Samantha McGonigle

Samantha McGonigle – General counsel, Hg Year of qualification: 2003 Hogan Lovells, 2001-06 Weil, Gotshal & Manges, 2006-19 Farview Equity Partners, 2019-24 Paul Hastings, 2023-24 Hg, 2024-present What do you most enjoy about working in PE? Private equity is incredibly diverse and dynamic. Even within a very specialist firm like Hg, which focuses only on …

Freshfields’ Mark Sansom on motorsports, email gaffes and competing on the global stage

Freshfields’ Mark Sansom on motorsports, email gaffes and competing on the global stage

I nearly drowned in a river in Wales when I was four. It had been raining a lot and the boulder my brother and I were standing on beside the river toppled into the water. I fell into the river and was held under by a waterfall. My mother, father and a passerby all dived …

‘I’ve called firms and asked why someone isn’t a partner yet’ – the female GCs shaking up PE

‘I’ve called firms and asked why someone isn’t a partner yet’  – the female GCs shaking up PE

‘No-one should be under any illusion that the hours are fewer, or the work less demanding. You don’t have the luxury of working on just one thing; you’re juggling multiple deals, multiple fund formations and perhaps litigation,’ says Carlyle partner, chief risk officer, head of EMEA and global general counsel (GC) for Investments Heather Mitchell …

The Private Equity Elite: the top general counsel in PE

The Private Equity Elite: the top general counsel in PE

What does it take to run the legal team in one of the most profitable deal shops in the world? After months of discussions with private equity and leveraged finance partners at the leading law firms in London as well as a host of in-house lawyers, Legal Business has come up with the definitive list …

‘You have a measurable impact on the success of the business’ – Lone Star legal chief Mark Coker

‘You have a measurable impact on the success of the business’ – Lone Star legal chief Mark Coker

Mark Coker – Chief legal officer, Lone Star Year of qualification: 1990 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, 1998-2008 Vinson & Elkins, 2008-15 Hudson Advisors, 2016-17 Lone Star Europe Acquisitions, 2018-present Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer? My career in private practice largely pre-dated the concept of being a private equity lawyer. My background …

‘Private capital is a super creative industry’ – KKR Europe GC Susanna Berger

‘Private capital is a super creative industry’ – KKR Europe GC Susanna Berger

Susanna Berger – Managing director, general counsel for Europe, KKR & Co Year of qualification: 2002 University of Chicago Law School, 1997-98 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, 2000-06 Avenue Capital Management, 2006-08 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, 2008 KKR & Co, 2009-present I joined KKR 15 years ago. At that point the team consisted of about 40 …

‘I liken myself to an octopus with many tentacles in different places’ – Apollo’s Seda Yalçinkaya

‘I liken myself to an octopus with many tentacles in different places’ – Apollo’s Seda Yalçinkaya

Seda Yalçinkaya – Partner and GC – International, Apollo Global Management Year of qualification: 2009 Columbia Law School, 1995-98 Cravath, Swaine & Moore, 1998-2005 Citi, 2005-11 Silver Lake, 2011-19 Apollo Global Management, 2019-present I started my career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. It was a deliberate choice – I had thought I’d …

‘My time on non-legal is the same as my time on legal’ – Bridgepoint GC Rachel Thompson

‘My time on non-legal is the same as my time on legal’ – Bridgepoint GC Rachel Thompson

Rachel Thompson – Partner and group general counsel, Bridgepoint Year of qualification: 2007 Clifford Chance, 2005-09 Bridgepoint, 2010-present It was never really a conscious decision to go in-house; I came on secondment from Clifford Chance two years after qualification, when Bridgepoint had just hired [former Travers Smith private equity head] Charlie Barter as its first …