Category: Analysis | Page 4 of 130

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 GC. It was right back at the start of PE houses getting more sophisticated in terms of their in-house legal functions. Continue reading “‘My time on non-legal is the same as my time on legal’ – Bridgepoint GC Rachel Thompson”

Melanie Sanchez – Global general counsel, investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Clayton Utz, 2005-06
Blake, Cassels & Graydon, 2006-14
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, 2014-present

I ended up working on private equity deals not by design, but rather by chance. I started out my career in Australia as a financing lawyer and when I moved to Canada I transitioned to general corporate work. Over time my practice evolved to support primarily US private equity clients investing into the mid-market in Canada. Since moving in-house I have had the opportunity to support our Ontario Teachers’ private equity team globally, as well as our other asset classes. Continue reading “‘Working in private markets keeps you on your toes’ – Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s Melanie Sanchez”

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 colleagues. I am also one of those lawyers who likes the adrenaline rush of getting a deal over the line, and PE ticks that box. Continue reading “‘If you like a fast pace, private equity will deliver’ – CPP Investments Europe legal chief Leigh Partridge”

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 could see that private equity was having a moment – abundant capital to deploy, the most exciting, complex and high-profile transactions and I wanted to be a part of that. I saw going in-house with Silver Lake as an opportunity to work closely with some of the most sophisticated investors in the market on cutting-edge transactions. Continue reading “‘The PE industry is in a unique position to effect change’ – SilverLake EMEA GC Katherine Brody”

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 much for a lawyer to be involved in and it’s very fast-paced, which I enjoy.

What has been the most memorable moment or deal of your in-house career?

Not sure I have one moment – I have been very lucky to be involved in many projects ranging from fund launches, spin-outs, and fund mergers with talented colleagues.

What do you think will be the biggest issues in private equity in the coming years?

PE is currently facing a new swathe of regulation (not all of it drafted with PE in mind), particularly in the US and separately in the ESG/D&I space. We’re preparing by using advisers where appropriate, and trying to get on top of issues early.

Across the board in law, there’s likely to be an increase in adopting AI solutions for certain tasks, which creates a big opportunities (particularly in-house where we typically have very small legal teams) but also requires adopting different ways of working.

Why would you recommend a career in private equity?

In private equity, every day is different and the work is incredibly varied – there’s something for every legal specialism. You also get to work with great people.

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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. Continue reading “‘The DWF take-private was headline-grabbing and justifiably so’ – Inflexion GC Andrew Stevens”

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 officer – our team has evolved from being the best M&A lawyers managing transactions to also being a crisis response centre. This has happened as Carlyle has grown significantly over time and become much more complex – whether you’re looking at asset class, sector or geography. Continue reading “‘I work with the best M&A lawyers in the world’ – Carlyle’s Heather Mitchell”

Jarlath Pratt – Assistant GC (Europe), GIC

Year of qualification: 2006
Travers Smith, 2006-10
Barclays Capital, 2010-13
GIC, 2013-present

Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer?
I trained at Travers Smith – I had the time of my life as a trainee and junior lawyer in the private equity team. Continue reading “‘I had the time of my life as a trainee at Travers’ – GIC’s Jarlath Pratt”

Tom Patrick – GC, Charterhouse

Year of qualification: 1999
White & Case, 2001-05
D.B. Zwirn & Co, 2005-10
Charterhouse, 2010-present

Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer?
I didn’t really – I originally wanted to be a journalist but once I did law, I was very keen to go in-house and get closer to the business. Continue reading “‘There are many memorable moments that that can’t be shared’ – Charterhouse GC Tom Patrick”

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 has always been in finance, doing a range of financing transactions across different sectors and a range of clients, which turned out to be a great foundation for working with private equity firms and the wide variety of investments that they consider.

What has been the most memorable moment or deal of your in-house career?

That is Lone Star’s investment in Novobanco, a large commercial bank based in Portugal which had been created by the Portuguese central bank in their resolution process for Banco Espírito Santo. The investment process took over 18 months to get to closing. After complex negotiations with the Portuguese state for the investment, we then sought clearance from a range of financial and market regulators, including DG (Comp), the ECB and local European regulators as well as the regulatory authorities in several other countries where the business was located. We also designed a new governance structure for the bank that was novel in the Portuguese market and in which I ended up as a participant as a non-executive board member.

Which sectors are you expecting to drive activity this year?

Lone Star is an opportunistic investor and activity is heavily influenced by the markets in the relevant sectors and geographies. For the real estate business, I expect we will remain active in the UK, Scandinavia, Germany and Austria for both direct real estate investments and structured debt transactions. For the corporate side of the business, activity levels remain high, continuing Lone Star’s strong track record with corporate carve-out transactions and more opportunities for secondary private equity transactions where older funds are seeking to divest their portfolio company investments.

Why would you recommend a career working in private equity?

Private equity is a very broad church which covers many firms of different sizes as well as multiple investment strategies and asset classes. The sector now deals with a wide range of legal and regulatory matters, which gives in-house lawyers lots of opportunities, wide responsibilities, scope to participate in more sectors and industries than most other comparable positions, in an environment where teams are typically still quite small and each individual lawyer has a high-profile and measurable impact on the success of the business.

Go to the Private Equity Elite contents.