What was your journey to DLA Piper?
After I left high school, I took a gap year to start my own small business providing ethically sourced clothing. The experience was incredibly rewarding! I had the opportunity to design clothes and build relationships with fabric providers in Africa and South Asia and I had the freedom to work independently. Once I began my Bachelor of Laws degree, I realised that while I enjoyed being part of the fashion world, a career in commercial law was more appealing. In commercial law, I would have the chance to continue to work independently, and work with large clients (think blue chip companies) and the matters would be varied and engaging.
DLA Piper stood out to me because in all my interactions with the firm, the people were genuine and made an effort to get to know me. During the interview process, my interviewing partner was interested in learning about my background and appreciated the fact that I had an unconventional journey to law.
I clerked in the Litigation and Regulatory team in 2020 and was invited back as a paralegal in 2021. Eventually, I was invited to join the firm as a Graduate in 2022!
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
The variety of transactions and clients I get to work with! The firm encourages people to speak up if they have an interest in a particular area of law or a team, I expressed my interest in doing front-end work and renewable energy work. As a result, I’ve rotated in Corporate (M&A), Projects (with a focus on renewable energy works) and am currently in Finance.
Our transactions often involve foreign jurisdictions. As a Graduate, I regularly engage directly with our clients or counterparties. I particularly enjoy front-end work as our clients and counterparties have the same goal, so we all work collaboratively or (try to) negotiate a middle ground.
During my Graduate rotations, I’ve been exposed to a wide range of matters. In my first rotation in the Corporate (M&A) team, I was involved in a transaction where a small Australian medical technology company was acquired by a multinational pharmaceutical and biotech company. For that transaction, I was involved in drafting contracts, drafting shareholder documents and regularly attended meetings with all parties (although the timing was a bit tricky given the different time zones). In my second rotation in Projects, I was heavily involved in renewable energy work. This may be surprising to hear given that WA is known for its mining sector! The most memorable experience was when we advised a multinational consumer goods company on the construction and management of a refinery plant which will enable the company to reduce its use of palm oil.