Allen & Overy

Louise Wolfson

Happy new year!

I thought I might be able to tell you that I have returned from my end-of-year holiday feeling refreshed and reinvigorated but the last few days since my return have been so busy that I am not sure any of the benefits of having been away remain!

“We are fortunate to have an excellent remote working facility which enables us to log-on to the Allen & Overy computer system from home”

We did have a lovely holiday, spending 12 days in Cape Verde.  Many people to whom I mention Cape Verde look at me rather blankly so if you haven't heard of it you are not alone.  Cape Verde is a former Portuguese colony off the coast of Africa (imagine drawing a line west from Senegal) and, as tourism is rather undeveloped there but the climate is good all year round and you don't need any injections, I have always been tempted by it.  The country is an archipelago and we visited 4 of the islands – each was different from the other.  All of them shared stunning beaches and coastline, friendly people, sunshine and warm wind.  We moved every 2-3 days so, as I am in charge of all the packing and unpacking, that aspect was rather tiresome but it was worth it to see so much.  We managed to do some hiking, swim in the sea, build lots of sandcastles and learn a few words of Portuguese.

It was a bit of a shock to arrive back in London where it was snowing and although I was glad that we were able to land, weren't delayed and only lost one suitcase, another part of me was tempted to tell the pilot to turn around and fly back to the sunshine!  The snowy weather has proved a challenge for everyone in the London office and colleagues who live outside London have often struggled to make it into the office.  Even those who can get to work are faced with longer journeys and juggling having kids unexpectedly off school.  We are fortunate to have an excellent remote working facility which enables us to log-on to the Allen & Overy computer system from home so if you are snow-bound, it is still possible to work from home.  Of course, many trainees, in particular, live within a short walk of the office and have no excuse not to be in work (apart from my trainee who managed to find her flight diverted to Prestwick on her return from holiday)!

December was a packed month and one of the highlights was the team Christmas party.  We went to a lovely Italian restaurant called Manicomio and had a great evening.  The firm is now so big that we don't have firm-wide, office-wide or even department-wide events, but there still seems to be plenty going on during the festive season.  The trainees have their own end-of-year ball and there are plenty of informal events arranged as well. 

During December, I was very pleased to win a new mandate for a client to whom I have been actively marketing over the past few months.  I was asked to pitch for the piece of work and, after much discussion about the scope of work and our proposed fees, we were successful in being selected as underwriter's counsel (which means we are acting for the bank advising on and underwriting the transaction, rather than the company doing the transaction).  This was very exciting for me as I have worked hard on developing the relationships with the key in-house lawyers and bankers over the past few months and it is always rewarding when that investment pays off.  The company decided to hold the kick-off meeting for the transaction early in January and, while I was away, the meeting was brought forward by a day which meant that I missed the initial session and then went almost straight from the plane into an all-day due diligence session, a rather rude return to work!  It is good, however, that the transaction seems likely and it will be a good one to work on.

I have also been fully occupied on the demerger I mentioned in my last blog.  We are getting closer to the date by which the documents must be finalised and the scale of the documents means that there is still a lot which needs to be done.  I have cleared my diary for the next few weeks of all social activities and any non-essential business activities.  It will be a fantastic feeling when we get to posting of the documents and the launch of the demerger but, in the meantime, there is a long slog ahead for the team and me.

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