1. When did you join FW, and where are you now?
I joined FW in September 2015 and was there for two years, leaving in October 2017. I sat in the commercial team, working closely with Jon Segal, who had been hired as a partner to build out the FinTech practice. I joined the firm as an associate to help him do this, predominantly working with clients in the FinTech space across commercial, regulatory, data protection and IP. I’m now at Revolut in the position of Deputy General Counsel.
2. What was your most memorable or favourite moment during your time at Fox Williams?
I think what I’ll always remember is being empowered to build my own client base and profile. Jon [Segal] really encouraged me to go out and attend lots of startup meetings and try to win business, which was a great skill to be able to learn early in my career. I really enjoyed that. At Fox Williams we worked with a lot of fledgling, startup companies, particularly in the tech, FinTech, and the alternative finance space. Being able to help those companies structure their product from the point of initial inception, see them grow over time, and build products for them on an ongoing basis was really rewarding.
3. Of the people you met at Fox Williams, who had the most influence on you?
Jon Segal – he essentially hired and trained me. We worked on a lot of projects together. I also worked a lot with Nigel Miller. He gave me a very good grounding in data protection, an area in which I still engage a lot today. Nigel has vast experience, having been a data protection expert before it was as “fashionable” as it is now. He has such deeply embedded knowledge in that area, and it was incredibly useful to learn from him. Those data protection skills that I picked up were part of the reason that I was able to subsequently secure the job at Revolut.
4. What was the most valuable thing you learnt or took away from Fox Williams?
I think being encouraged to look at the whole picture when advising the client. Legal advice in isolation is less unless you give commercial and strategic advice alongside this that is relevant to that client’s set of circumstances and business. Startups in particular are looking for practical advice that is easy to digest and I learnt that any advice has to be commercially relevant for that particular client or it is unusable. Fox Williams really empowered me to give that holistic commercial and legal advice, which was invaluable in helping me progress to where I am now.
5. What is the best advice you have received that has helped you with your career?
It’s hard to put a finger on it, but I think what I learned in my time at the firm was that preparation is key. It’s essential to be prepared before every meeting and call, as well as make sure that you’re aware of every detail. It’s key, no matter how senior you are, and I observed that in the partners. The more immersed in the detail you are, the more prepared for that meeting, the eventualities of how it can go, and the advice that you’re going to give. A lot of the time, when you’re dealing with FinTech companies, you’re not advising on a specific area of law. You have to upskill yourself in lots of different areas. The client expects you to be able to advise on a multitude of subjects, whether they be related to commercial, IP, data protection, etc. So, in answer to the question: learn the skills to be able to upskill yourself – which you’re only going to be able to do by completing the work and delving into the detail.
