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Commercial solicitor: Sophia

This Case Study belongs to Commercial solicitor.

Sophia always wanted to go into law but studied history at university after timely advice that a law degree wasn’t necessary for a career in the legal profession. The keys skills gained during her degree were practical/learning skills which can be developed through many higher education courses. Time management, prioritising work commitments, self-motivation, and reading/assimilating original sources to put forward an argument, are skills legal professionals use on a daily basis.

Sophia has been working as a commercial solicitor for four years. The first three were spent in the commercial department of Capsticks, a medium-sized healthcare firm. For the last year she has worked in-house as a commercial manager for Balfour Beatty Capital (the equity investment arm of the Balfour Beatty group).

Originally, she thought that she would eventually work in litigation, but working in a commercial department quickly changed her views.

'Commercial law covers a broad area and I enjoy never being sure what I'll find myself working on in any given day, and looking at points that may not have been considered from a particular angle before. The variety of work means there aren’t always easy precedents to roll out and I like the challenge of constantly being on my toes.'

Through working in the commercial department at Capsticks, Sophia gained experience in PFI projects work (where the public sector uses private finance to upgrade its estate - hospitals, schools, roads, for example) and realised that project work was a good area to specialise in. She saw an advertisement for her current position at Balfour Beatty Capital, applied and was offered the job.

It was a good move and Sophia really enjoys working in an in-house role.

'The work is more varied and you're required to take a more commercial/business-oriented approach. Rather than simply assessing the legal risks of a particular contract, you need to follow through and consider how any risks can be managed or mitigated. A healthier work-life balance is another benefit as you're measured on your contribution to the company rather than the hours you work.'

In order to get into law, Sophia found it helpful to get as much experience as she could and did work placements in firms of different sizes and with different areas of expertise. Having trained at a medium-sized firm, she feels that she was given greater exposure in terms of access to the partners and closer involvement with client advice than peers at City firms. She feels that it is important to get as much and as varied an experience as possible during a training contract as this allows you to build up a good base of knowledge on which to make decisions about your future career.

Sophia’s current role involves a variety of tasks including appointing legal, technical and insurance advisers for each project; drafting and negotiating heads of terms to cover relationships with key supply chain members (e.g. funders, subcontractors); advising the bid team on commercial issues that arise from the procurement of the project and carrying out/arranging due diligence checks to ensure contract documents for each project are drafted in appropriate terms. In addition to the legal elements of the role she also takes part in bid team presentations to public sector clients, internal presentations on the legal issues arising in projects, and supervising more junior members of the team.

Her role in-house continues to develop and working closely with members of a wider team means Sophia gains exposure to areas that it’s not always possible to come across in private practice. Longer term, an in-house position can also provide a way in to a more commercial role. For Sophia, the most satisfying part of an in-house job is working as part of a closely integrated team with a common aim to win and successfully deliver large projects. She finds the less enjoyable parts of the job are the routine tasks that have to be completed countless times and the additional administration required when you no longer have your own designated secretary (which is mainly a perk of private practice).

Sophia is currently very satisfied with her role.

'With time, I’d like to increase my experience in projects in different sectors and move up the ranks in the legal and commercial team. What is certain with an in-house position is that you’re unlikely to remain pigeon-holed in a particular area, unless that’s what you want, so watch this space!'

Case Study sourced by Joanne Rourke of AGCAS, 19 November 2007.