Allen & Overy

Paul Sephton

Ing-ger-lund.....

I started the month with a trip to the A&O box at Wembley with Barclays for the England v Kazakhstan game which was a cracking day out. I've managed a few trips to Wembley with A&O over the years but this was definitely the best. Ex England captain Bryan Robson came into the box for a meet and greet just before kick off which was pretty exciting (although some of the slightly less clued up attendees thought he was the head of catering and so presumably thought he had an inflated opinion of himself when he offered up his autograph). The game was pretty good and had Cashly Cole not gifted the Kazakhs a late goal I would have made a tidy profit on my days betting, that aside, I think everyone had a good time.

“For a junior finance lawyer these are interesting days ”

Touchdown

Slightly shamelessly I was back at Wembley the following week with A&O for the American football game between the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers. It was only my second experience of an American football game (having gone to the Wembley game last year too) and so I obviously didn't have a clue what was going on (although I'm pretty sure that no one does). Rules aside it was still a great occasion and after a few beers it didn't seem to matter what was going on on the pitch as I was caught up in the razzmatazz of the cheerleaders, mascots, half time shows, etc. Good fun for all the family. High five.

Flat caps and Hovis

As part of my secondment I packed up my things and went to spend a week working up in Barclays Commercial office in Leeds where I had a really brilliant time  -  the team up there made me feel very welcome and it was like a home away from home. It was interesting to see the work that goes on nationally because most of the work I tend to do has an international dimension. Leeds isn't a City I knew particularly well so it was great to get an opportunity to explore it (read: going to pubs) and meet up with some old friends that have settled there.

Ankle

Anyone who's been reading my blog in previous months will know that I've been moaning about my broken ankle sustained during a friendly (yeah right) game of five aside football a little while ago. Annoyingly the trustee ankle hasn't mended himself quite sufficiently so will be going under the knife next month which is something to look forward to just before Christmas. The thought of slipping the moon boot on for another six weeks isn't exactly filling me with Christmas glee but at least this year I'll have a bona fide excuse for not helping out in any way, shape or form with the Christmas dinner.

Still Crunchy

The panic over the past few months seems to have subsided in recent weeks and whilst credit markets obviously haven't returned to anything like normal,  people have started to get used to the new economic climate.    For a junior finance lawyer these are interesting days as it's the first time I've experienced anything other than boom time. It's incredible how flexible many of the lawyers in my department (Global Loans) have been in transferring their skills to deal with restructuring matters as the lending side of our work drops off a touch. The whole firm has been remarkably light on its feet in adapting to the changed business environment and seems well placed to go from strength to strength despite the obvious challenges.

Lights, Camera.....

I spent yesterday afternoon filming my video spot for the grad recruitment page. I now have every sympathy with premier league footballers that I usually berate on a weekly basis for not being able to string a sentence together in front of the camera. It really is more difficult than it looks - I would implore everyone not to watch it when it is eventually added to this site and if you do, I can only apologise ....

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