After graduating from university with a degree in Law, I decided to pursue a career in sports management. I got to travel the world and attend lots of amazing events, but after the best part of a decade, I no longer found it as stimulating as I had at the start. I was ready for a new challenge, decided that law was something I was keen to get back into, and now I’m focused on making my second career a success.

Friends had told me a lot of good things about Baker McKenzie – the prestigious clients, the industry awards, the global reputation – but it was the culture of the Firm that appealed to me most. People are interested in you and expect you to work as part of a team, which means they make more effort to welcome you and share their expertise. Even senior people take the time to make sure I feel like I’m getting the most out of my experience.

From early on as a trainee, you’re given real responsibility. I’m currently sitting my first seat in Tax before I rotate to another area. I’ve been working side by side with one of the Firm’s partners in the courts, defending a household brand in a dispute with HMRC. It’s been intense and exciting. Intellectually stimulating too. It’s also given me a fantastic insight into different aspects of the law and helped me to understand them in a commercial context.

Global tax laws are set to change over the next couple of years, which will affect companies in all kinds of ways. I’ve been working on another project with a large multinational to help ease the transition and ensure their interests are compliant worldwide. That means talking to colleagues in Hong Kong, Bermuda, the Middle East… It sounds like a lot, but it’s an agile team effort.

Now I’m looking forward to discovering what my next seats have in store. There are lots of other avenues I’d like to explore and different aspects of Baker McKenzie’s work I’d like to get involved in. From experience, I know that if you show a colleague you’re keen, they’ll do whatever they can to help make it happen.

One day you’ll be chatting with an Associate or a Partner about something that interests you; the next they’ll ask you to join their team or work with them on a related project. That’s why I believe I’ll achieve my long-term goals here. I’m keeping my options open right now, but when I find ‘my thing’, I want to become a global authority.