My journey started with Halebury, who placed me in a major UK bank role in 2018. Elevate later acquired Halebury; since then, I have remained a member of the team.

Elevate provides varied and interesting roles, including leadership, project, and transformation roles, all of which I greatly enjoy. Their clientele includes some of the biggest names across industries. Elevate promotes me as a lawyer into challenging roles where I increase my knowledge while applying the greatest degree of expertise and leveraging my most valuable skills.

I am drawn to projects where I can make a meaningful difference. My broad background, including as a compliance professional and a lawyer, allows me to do so in a wide variety of matters, from acquisitions and transformational projects to high-profile investigations and remediation, and new products, services, and trading platforms. Because Elevate’s placements are diverse, I am able to contribute no matter what ‘hat’ I wear.

I am innately curious, enjoy being helpful, and like diving in and making an impact. Every project captures my imagination in some way, especially working in different industries on different matter types at varied businesses, each with its own business models and operational environment. Because I bring a fresh perspective, I have been able to help organisations reexamine the status quo and consider opportunities for improvement that may not have occurred to them. My assignments often result from a team stretched beyond capacity or skill set. This is a perfect fit given the breadth and depth of my experience and my ability to quickly integrate into a team, orient myself, and take on multiple projects in different areas.

Elevate enables me to expand my experiences continually. This increases the value I can add and enhances my marketability, which has led to additional and extended placements – and even offers of permanent roles from a happy client!

Taking on a new role in a new organisation as a flexible lawyer, you are expected to add value quickly.  My top tips are:

• Be confidently curious. You are not expected to know everything on day one, and there’s power in asking good foundational questions (what?) and next-level questions (why?). It’s often surprising that not everyone always has the answers.
• Don’t be a wallflower. Build a healthy internal senior network and participate in internal working groups, training sessions (as a trainer or recipient), and social events.
• Listen and collaborate. While learning the business, test your conclusions with (and hear the ideas of) colleagues of all levels before going to press.
• Be practical. Go the extra mile to understand your clients, their internal and external stakeholders, and what has and has not worked in the past.