Tag Archive for: Shearman & Sterling

Grace J. Lee: Litigation Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Grace J Lee“As I was progressing within the BigLaw structure, the most important thing was not defining my success by the way that some tend to view it,” says Grace Lee. “I resisted my initial tendency to buy into the notion that if I didn’t make partner, that was somehow failure, or spoke to my skillset or my value.”

Lee shares on defining your own success, aligning with your personal priorities, and challenging the stereotypes of who you need to be in the role.

From Literature to Law

Lee contemplated a path in comparative literature, but was hesitant to commit to a life in academia. She also had been considering law school and discovered that law fulfilled her interest in causes for justice and allowed her to apply her literature skillsets.

“As a comparative literature major, I did a lot of exercises in explicating texts—you take a passage from a literary work, consider why the author chose the words they did, and where it fits in the broader context of the work,” says Lee. “In legal work, I was interested in interpreting words—words in statutes and court decisions. And making arguments about how certain language should be interpreted, based on word choices and the context, to support a thesis.”

Now in her 15th year at Shearman & Sterling (S&S) in New York and D.C., she is an industry expert—working with financial institutions and corporations on securities and antitrust litigation, commercial litigation, and regulatory investigations.

Defining Her Own Success

“Don’t buy into how other people define success. If you have a view of where you want to be in five or ten years, stay true to that,” says Lee, “as opposed to feeling like you need to be or do something that might be completely divorced from what makes you professionally and personally satisfied.”

While attaining partnership was a meaningful step in her career, it does not define her success, and she points out that many smart, successful people do not opt into or attain partnership.

“I think success is a very personal thing. For me, being able to have the different spaces of my life come together is success,“ she notes. “I’m able to have a career that I find fulfilling and kids who are fairly well adjusted. My kids see that what I do is not at their expense, and that my professional space means something to me.”

Aligning With Your Personal Priorities

For her personally, becoming a parent changed and clarified her priorities in a way that she never anticipated.

“I had a vision of the type of parent I wanted to be, and the type of lawyer I wanted to be,” says Lee. “I also realized that if I couldn’t be the parent that I wanted to be, then I wasn’t going to be happy even if I succeeded as a lawyer, and that became my guiding principle.”

To make this work, Lee did her best to fulfill her visions of both roles. She prioritized coming home to put her children to bed every night, and then working a second shift, often late into the night. “What that meant was that what could have been a work day that ended at 9 or 10 pm if I worked through the evening in the office became a work day that often ended well past midnight, because I took the time to go home, spend a little time with them, and put them to bed.” But for Lee, the personal sense of having given something the best that she could under the circumstances, was what was the most important.

“In order for me to not be resentful of the fact that I have a demanding job but instead grow in it, I had to make sure that I wouldn’t look back 20 years from then and feel that I had sacrificed my values as a parent to be a lawyer. I gave my best to both roles so that, many years from now, I hopefully wouldn’t feel that I had pursued one at the expense of the other and question those choices.”

Knowing her choice is her own, she emphasizes that your own priority is never wrong, whatever it is—it’s about aligning your life with your self-discerned priority.

“The trouble is when you’re trying to do something that doesn’t align with your values just because you feel like you have to do it,” says Lee. “I think that’s where the discord and the struggles really materialize.”

Lee finds it helpful to introduce the two parts of her life to each other. “After a long week, the physical office building was not the place I would have chosen to go to on a weekend. But it was important for my kids to be able to visualize me at work during the day, where I spend more time than I do with them.” So on some weekends, Lee brought her kids into the office where they would walk through the halls, sit at her desk and pretend that they were working. Lee also naturally incorporates her job as a parent in her conversations at work.

“Some people—especially women at least as I have observed—shy away from talking about their kids at work because they think they will be taken as less committed. I want people to understand that I have another demanding job that I absolutely love. It’s important for me to feel that my work is a safe space where I can talk about my kids, and the challenges and the demands of parenthood instead of pretending that I don’t have those issues.”

That openness has also paved the way for real meaningful discussions with mentors who have helped her navigate the intensity of BigLaw while striking the balance she personally seeks.

“So many great partners who have been mentors and friends over the years really helped me as I was trying to figure out my priorities and my definition of success. They didn’t just tell me what to do to get to the next step in BigLaw. They asked me what I wanted in life and in my career and shared their personal stories. Those discussions could get very granular—like, ‘What are your stressors? Let’s identify what they are, and see if it’s solvable.’” Even when the stressor was outside of Lee’s control, being able to identify it helped more than just feeling stressed.

Her mentors have also often become her sponsors, advocating for her and helping her to advance in the organization and with clients.

Growing Through The Process

“Take on as much as you think you can reasonably handle. And then stretch that a little. See how that works. And if that works, stretch it a little more. Do the very best to not turn down work,” says Lee, who focuses on the notion of building her personal value rather than billing hours.

“My brand and my value come down to my experience. The level of experience and breadth of different types of cases you get because you’re working more and stretching a little is huge. That experience becomes a big part of your value as a lawyer.”

For Lee, it’s not a particular case or moment that has been rewarding for her, but the relationships and overall growth that come with the process of working with her teams and clients to solve issues. “It’s the journey from Point A to Point B, from Point B to Point C, and so on, and then seeing the growth from Point A to Point X. It’s not any single moment, but it’s many blocks of moments of where I was and where I am now.”

Being Yourself, Not an Expectation

Though Lee works with many women, the industry and partnership ring are more male-dominated, so she values that her own trajectory helped to set an important precedent.

“It’s natural to look for someone you can identify with in the role you want to be in. I hope that I might be able to be that person for some.”

Just as Lee rejects the notion of adopting anyone else’s idea of success, she also challenges the notion that you have to be anyone else’s version of a lawyer.

Especially as she became more senior, Lee confronted expectations about how a successful lawyer looks and acts—such as the stereotype of litigators being loud and argumentative—but those expectations didn’t always match the ways that Lee speaks or acts.  Lee believes that you don’t have to fundamentally change who you are, or embody certain mannerisms every day, to be an effective advocate. “Having people from different backgrounds and with different tendencies in the leadership roles helps dismantle that and challenge that notion.”

Playing By Ear

Lee played the violin as a child, and as a parent follows the Suzuki Method with her children, which teaches children to pick up music through exposure and repetition before actually reading music, akin to how they pick up their mother tongue before they learn how to read.

With the method being based upon a parent-teacher-child triangle, Saturdays and even family summer holidays have often been focused around music classes and Suzuki camp. “It’s a refreshing change of pace. In my kids’ violin instructions, we are much less concerned about how quickly they can master something than we are at how perfectly they can learn it. An entire month can be spent dedicated to making sure they can play one musical phrase correctly.” Lee also loves how music brings her family together, including playing violin duets with her children.

Rounding back to literature, Lee is looking forward to reading a book she picked up some months ago at a local bookstore. “It was a ‘blind date’ book where the book is wrapped and you don’t know what it is, but it instead lists other books of similar sentiments. I loved the idea of it and all of the books that were listed on the wrapper, so picked it up with a lot of anticipation.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Renad Younes: Regional Managing Partner for the Middle East, M&A and Project Development, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Renad Younes“If you look at the Shearman & Sterling office in the Middle East, it’s a truly diverse office which represents the region in which we are operating,” testifies Renad Younes, who joined the firm over two years ago.

From Abu Dhabi, Younes speaks to how she prioritizes relationships in her advisory work, as a female leader in the Middle East with pride in diversity and inclusion.

Relocating Back to The Middle East

After growing up in Palestine, Younes moved to London to complete her higher education at the London School of Economics in 2003. She stayed in London for ten more years—working, getting married and having her first child.

The London scene magnetized her to the work of large law firms, and she quickly found that international M&A and projects work was closely related to her keen interests—navigating cross-border transactions, collaborating with diverse people and working with different laws, transactions and involved parties to meet their needs.

In 2013, Younes made the move to Abu Dhabi to be closer to her clients in the region. Relocating also meant that she was closer to family.

Younes continued to practice law as she also began to raise her family. Able to balance her working life and family without putting her career on pause —Younes made partner in 2014.

“Being a successful career woman doesn’t mean sacrificing your family life,” says Younes, who had her second child in 2016. “You have to put your mind to it and be organized – but it’s not impossible to have a successful career just because you’re a woman or a parent.”

Younes reflects on diversity at work: “inclusivity at work, while it’s perceived as a gender issue, is actually much broader than that. It’s about creating an environment which is supportive of all people so that it’s not impossible to balance your work and personal life. That is what I have been fortunate enough to experience.

“At Shearman & Sterling, our commitment and focus around diversity and inclusion remains non-negotiable,” she continues. “I think the ongoing pandemic has shown just how important it is that our workplaces are inclusive of the responsibilities we all have, regardless of gender. Whether you’re a parent or caring for parents, or simply have other interests and responsibilities, we all have demands outside of work.”

Mediating Within Complex Relationships

“I work with commercial enterprise clients and government organizations who typically have a social responsibility emphasis,” Younes notes. “I am quite aware that the image attached to M&A is that you’re only focused on business, but it’s just not the case in our day-to-day job.”

She observes that the clients that work with her at Shearman & Sterling are highly involved in the community aspect and awareness of what they bring to where their business is operating, which animates her as well.

“Helping and empowering the community through developing their natural resources for example is fulfilling for me as a lawyer,” says Younes, who mediates between governments, government owned companies, international companies and communities—supporting communities, governments and corporations towards what they aspire to achieve.

“I think the technical legal aspect is very interesting,” she says, “but the human interactions, working with different cultures and political structures and governments, draws me the most to what I do.”

Staying Close to Your Team and Your Clients

Younes reflects on her role as a more senior lawyer and a member of the firm’s executive management: “As I become more senior, it’s about having a successful team that enables us to execute complex transactions and deliver whilst creating the right environment for those coming through,” she notes. “It’s about the importance of our team, both collectively and as individuals.”

Younes knows that managing a successful team is about “creating and implementing a meritocracy- not an autocracy in which there is one voice and people follow. Nor is it a democracy in which nothing can be achieved without an equal weight to every single opinion—but a meritocracy that encourages different perspectives and explores the various opinions of all team members in proportion to their merits.

“It is ultimately what makes us successful,” she continues. “Having a team that shares the same values and views is wonderful, but you also want people that challenge and push each other so that you encourage creativity. Great teams do both equally well.”

As to the clients, for Younes, being an M&A lawyer is not just working through the next deal, but about nurturing a long-term relationship and becoming an advisor to her clients.

“I think of myself as a member of the client’s team. One of my aspirations as a lawyer is not to be perceived as an external supplier of services, but to become a trusted advisor,” she says. “It’s a personal relationship—clients want to call the person they trust will give them the right advice that is tailored for them.”

What has surprised her is that she never stops being fascinated and compelled by the work. Each year, she sets out with more momentum and aspirations, even as the work demands have become more difficult with seniority.

“It doesn’t matter how many deals you have done, how much work you have on, there is something new everyday and something new that you learn, whether from clients, transactions, team members at Shearman or in other firms, including opposing counsel,” she says. “You have to stay on your toes and continue to be relevant. That’s great, as it keeps the job fascinating and interesting.”

Being in the Company of Senior Women Leaders

“The perception is that M&A and projects is a male-dominated field, but that has not always been my experience. Many of our clients are diverse and we have many senior very successful female clients,” says Younes. “The diversity progress that I have witnessed in the market in the past few years has been very encouraging.”

Younes is especially proud of her Shearman & Sterling team, and how well they have maintained team cohesion over the last year while delivering results to clients.

“I’ve only been with Shearman & Sterling for two years, but it’s amazing how diverse the firm is – the number of female partners, female associates, different cultures and diverse perspectives. There’s a genuine attention and commitment to diversity and we have implemented a number of initiatives that are aimed to increasing diversity and inclusion in the firm,” she observes.

“It’s not just talking about it, it’s actual implementation, and not just because of the stats,” testifies Younes. “We genuinely believe it’s important to have different perspectives in the meeting room.”

Looking Towards Our Possibilities

Most of Younes’ spare time is spent with her family.

While it’s a big adjustment and many are struggling, she thinks the flexibility realized by the remote office will hopefully serve to empower women and indeed everyone juggling work and personal commitments.

Looking at the future, she is excited about our human capacity for innovation and the possibility of communities being catalyzed to come together to create new solutions amidst the collective challenges in the world right now.

By Aimee Hansen

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Voice of Experience: Emma Maconick, Partner, Shearman & Sterling

Emma MaconickWhile you can’t choose your circumstances, you can choose how you react to them, says Shearman & Sterling’s Emma Maconick.

“If I could, I would tell the junior version of myself to focus on relationships because they will all matter in some way,” she says. “Giving without expecting anything in return will do more to enhance your career than anything else. The act of being a helpful, useful person in your network is an incredibly valuable skill.”

Seizing Opportunities Provides A Strong Foundation

“Meandering.” That’s how Maconick describes her career, which began in England in the mid- 90s. Back then, she was doing computer and tech work for corporate entities and capital markets. And the more she heard about private equity investing in the then-new “internet,” the more interested she became in the sector.

Thanks to a contact she made at a casual party, she ended up working for an Australian law firm’s Auckland, New Zealand office, which in retrospect she believes was an excellent career move. She found herself traveling up the career ladder, becoming a big fish in a little pond with tremendous exposure to a host of smaller tech companies.

Later on, thanks to a former colleague in the San Francisco Bay Area who knew she was interested in transactional law, she came back to the United States to work at Davis Polk. She worked there for several years before moving to Shearman in June.

While Maconick has spearheaded a variety of impressive technology projects, product launches and fascinating deals over the years, she is most proud of the teams she’s built throughout her career. “My legacy isn’t as much what I personally will do, but what the people I have managed will do,” she says. “I tend to give them a lot of rope to venture out on their own, but I am also there to catch them before they fall. My job is to make them not need me, but always want me,” she says.

Her current work is focused on data, sitting at the intersection of intellectual property, cybersecurity and governance. While an Economist article had famously stated that “data is the new oil,” Maconick goes a step further. “I think it’s even more elemental; it’s the new carbon,” she says, adding that everything will be data-driven, which is why issues around artificial intelligence and ethics and how we build the upcoming digital world are so crucial.

Standing Out To Get Ahead

Maconick recommends that professional women develop an indispensable set of skills, and put their own spin on it.

She says it’s imperative to find out what’s valued in a particular organization — whether it’s culture, sales, creativity or something else — and focus on that. “Nothing magnifies your voice more than being able to generate work for your team.”

As women move up in the corporate world, Maconick believes women can take advantage of their inherent disposition for being relationship and empathy-focused. As computers take over manual tasks, interconnectedness, an area where women excel, will be a real value driver, allowing them to understand clients and their business challenges.

“These skills can shift the balance of power in your favor,” she says.

Professional women can help uplift others through tiny, incremental changes. For instance, if there is a spot open on a key project, suggest it be staffed with a woman capable of doing the job.

Shearman places a lot of importance on diversity. The firm provides skill-building sessions such as “practice your pitch,” and encourages associates to take the time to participate in conferences. It also holds monthly meetings featuring new opportunities or support with professional growth.

Finding Balance With Varied Interests

Maconick is active with the national group Ellevate, as well as Shearman’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) group. She also sits on the board of Upward Women, which focuses on elevating senior-level women. “The key is to find or form your own stiletto network or book club or whatever works for you, as a way to connect with other professionals.”

Most of her time outside work is devoted to her two sons, ages three and seven. Although her schedule is limited, she also enjoys ceramic arts and pottery, which provide both a mental and creative boost.

A travel junkie, Maconick is proud of her 6 x 8 foot map covered in pins marking all the places she’s been. “My life is oriented toward the next cool trip,” she says, adding that her kids are becoming highly adept travelers as well. She continues, “I traveled a lot as a kid and love other cultures, food and languages; whether we seek them in the next state or on the other side of the world, I find it enormously enriching.”

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Shearman & Sterling’s Fintech Foundry and Women’s Inclusion Network Host “Leaders in Blockchain” Panel

Shearman & Sterling LLP’s women’s inclusion network, known as WISER, and the firm’s FinTech Foundry, recently joined forces with The Collective Future, a global collective of leaders in blockchain and cryptocurrency, to host a panel discussion in New York City on recent developments in blockchain technology, including its wide-ranging impact and its evolving legal and regulatory landscape.

Donna Parisi, Partner and Co-Head of Financial Services and FinTech at Shearman & Sterling, moderated the panel. Rupa Briggs and Mary Pennisi, co-chairs of WISER and members of the FinTech Foundry, planned and opened the panel with welcoming remarks. Joining them were a panel of female experts on blockchain and law, including Emma Channing, CEO and General Counsel of Satis Group; Wendy Callaghan, Chief Innovation Legal Officer and Associate General Counsel at AIG; Joyce Lai, Law and Technology Officer at ConsenSys; and Cathy Yoon, General Counsel of Genesis Block and GB Capital Markets. Joshua Ashley Klayman, Chair of Wall Street Blockchain Alliance’s Legal Working group and CEO and Founder of Klayman LLC and Inflection Point Blockchain Advisors, offered opening remarks and creatively introduced the concept of blockchain technology with a visualization exercise.

The panel demonstrated that women are making strides in becoming experts in this emerging field, and highlighted the speakers’ expertise through a lively discussion about recent regulatory developments in blockchain, use cases in various industries, privacy issues, smart contracts, and challenges ahead in developing the law applicable to this evolving technology.

In the U.S. especially, the legal and regulatory frameworks surrounding initial coin offerings, for instance, are not being established quickly enough, creating uncertainty that leads many entrepreneurs to seek other countries in which to do business. This is a topic that is echoed by the industry as a whole. In late September, executives from the cryptocurrency industry, financial institutions and venture capital firms met in Washington, D.C. for a discussion with Ohio Representative Warren Davidson, who plans to introduce a bill that will aim to update regulations surrounding cryptocurrency offerings.

Another challenge to the growth of blockchain and cryptocurrency is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to the panelists, it is still unclear how exactly the data privacy provisions of GDPR will impact how personal data is distributed on public blockchains in particular. The panelists noted that there is still no set definition of “erasure of data,” an important part of GDPR’s “right to be forgotten.” Without clear definitions, blockchain companies will face difficulty in maintaining compliance with GDPR.

Despite the challenges, the panelists were confident that there is ample room for growth for blockchain and cryptocurrency on a global scale. They recognized blockchain as offering new seats at the table and also discussed why blockchain appeals to women and led them to assume leadership roles in the space.

Ms. Parisi offered the theory that women are attracted to the field because they are not satisfied with the status quo and are driven to innovate. All agreed that diversity is an important objective and ingredient for success in technology in the future. Two of the panelists recalled meeting and learning from each other through a diversity mentorship program.

With events such as this one and the incredible examples set by the accomplished panelists, there is hope that more women will be motivated to take leadership positions in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, and become recognized for their expertise.

This article is part of Theglasshammer.com’s annual women in technology celebration and we are recognizing women in technology with coverage from Oct 22nd to Nov. 22nd. Enjoy profiles and related articles!

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Mover and Shaker: Cassandra Cuellar, Associate at Shearman & Sterling

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Cassandra Cuellar

By Cathie Ericson

Being inquisitive and asking a lot of questions is one of the best ways to move ahead, whether you’re working with a partner or client, believes Shearman’s Cassandra Cuellar.

In addition, she recommends that professionals always maintain a positive attitude, showing up and treating every day like a new day. “It’s a stressful job, and you have to recognize that your role is to find a way around issues, to find a solution that will meet the client’s ultimate goal whether it’s an internal or external client.”

Honing a Specialty That Always Has Emerging Challenges

After growing up in a small town in Texas, Cuellar came to Austin in 2003 to attend University of Texas – the first lawyer in her family — and has been there ever since. While attending law school, she clerked with the firm Andrews Kurth, where she received an offer to work with the Emerging Companies group. She worked there for seven-and-a-half years until this March when the group of 14 attorneys and associated support staff moved over to Shearman and Sterling LLP.

Currently she is working with companies that are exploring very cutting-edge fields. For example, she is enjoying the challenge of developing two areas in the practice — cryptocurrency and digital assets – and helping move them more into the mainstream. “We have to take them out of the hands of the fringe groups and make them more accessible so people will become comfortable with crypto and blockchain,” she notes.

Another exciting area of growth is in AI. She has a client who focuses on looking at manuscripts and movie scripts for patterns that resonate, which she says is the type of task that AI will revolutionize by applying a more systematic approach.

Learning By Doing

Cuellar describes her first two years as an “unending learning moment.” At the time, she was working with several junior attorneys who left for various reasons so she seized the opportunity to fill the gaps. While it entailed many late nights, in hindsight she sees that taking on these various extra projects was the best possible thing she could have done to propel her career. “I was able to learn from mistakes and now have a vast background which helps me recognize things that I wouldn’t have noticed before.”

While embracing those kinds of opportunities can grow your career, she also finds incredible benefits in taking advantage of mentoring, whether formal or informal.

In fact, at an earlier position that didn’t offer a formal program, she sought out other attorneys to help give her advice. “People are more than willing to have conversations with you when you show you appreciate their time,” she says.

At Shearman, she recognized the culture of mentorship and support the minute she came over. “Female partners whom I don’t even work with have reached out, which was so impressive that these busy women would welcome me and offer their support,” she says. One in particular who stands out is partner Sarah McClean, whom she notes has been very conscious about developing a team of great women and inviting her to immediately get involved.

Another option Cuellar took advantage of was getting involved with industry organizations, which she finds particularly important for minority lawyers. She has enjoyed the four years she’s been involved with the Hispanic National Bar Association, which offers avenues for professional development and advancement; for example, she has had the chance to make pitches to corporations and gleaned immeasurable professional development opportunities from sitting in and learning from other attorneys

Because she places great importance on developing the pipeline of younger lawyers, she’s also been involved with a UT group called Minority Women Pursuing Law, which works with first-generation law students to offer counsel on job hunting. Each year Cuellar presents on what they should know as college students about what law schools and law firms are looking for to help give them a leg up.

Married with two dogs, Cuellar loves to cook and barbeque at home, and she and her husband enjoy frequent visits to their families in south Texas.

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Voice of Experience: Sarah McLean, Partner, Shearman & Sterling

Sarah McLeanAsking questions is one of the best ways to grow both personally and professionally, finds Shearman & Sterling’s Sarah McLean.

“I wish I had known when I was first starting out that most people don’t mind when you ask them questions about their work or request feedback on your work — and the more direct the question, the better,” she notes. “Specific questions lead to better discussion and ultimately lead to better information for you.”

An Early Pivot Leads to a Rewarding Career

With an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, Sarah assumed she would become a research scientist or go to medical school. But in her last year of college she took a business law class that intrigued her with how problems and solutions are presented so differently than in science. That, coupled with the three years of research she had been doing on the pea aphid genome, led her to decide to pursue law school rather than research.

Her first job out of law school was with a Texas-based firm where she initially practiced health law — at the time still considering medical school—but ultimately didn’t find it challenging and switched to oil and gas private equity. She practiced with the same firm for almost 20 years, in both Houston and Austin, along the way closing more mergers and acquisitions deals than any other lawyer in Texas in 2017, according to the records of The Texas Lawbook. She then started thinking about making a change, to find a new challenge that would energize and excite her. She moved to Shearman & Sterling in April 2018, where she currently practices private equity and oil and gas upstream and midstream mergers and acquisitions.

Building the Business One Relationship at a Time

While Sarah is currently working on a number of complicated, interesting deals and transactions, what she’s most excited about is her role in business development—going out to see clients and contacts and introducing them to Shearman & Sterling. “We’ve put together an impressive team of oil and gas deal lawyers in Austin and Houston, and it has been great to get out of the office and talk to people,” she says.

She’s built an impressive array of contacts over the years, primarily because she figured out soon after starting her career that every person you meet is a potential future business contact. “I realized that reaching out to people you’ve met through business deals is a great way to grow your network of contacts, and the newer associates working on your early deals will be decision makers in 10 years,” Sarah says. “Developing long-standing relationships helps tremendously when you are asking for referrals and work.”

She often tells young women that an important trait to help build fulfilling relationships is getting over any shyness. “I was always hesitant to reach out to contacts for lunch or coffee because I thought they would be too busy or they wouldn’t really want to get together with me or a hundred other excuses. But ultimately I’ve learned that most people do want to form relationships and do have time for a quick check-in meeting,” she says. And, furthermore, even if they don’t have time or want to meet, they won’t be rude about it. “They just don’t respond, and someone not responding is not tragic or embarrassing at all,” she points out.

Taking Charge of Your Own Career

Sarah advises her peers of the value of sticking together and supporting one other, along with taking the time to nurture as many younger women as possible. She urges those in a position of authority or power in an organization to use it to dispel stereotypes and promote diversity.

While she recommends young women find good mentors and sponsors, she makes clear that often you have to make your own opportunities, rather than relying on them coming to you. “This means getting out of your office, meeting people and looking for ways to make yourself more valuable to your firm or company,” she says.

Women especially need to spearhead their own careers, because in her experience big law firms, along with the specialties of private equity and oil and gas, are male-dominated industries, which can offer some barriers.

One barrier in big law firms is what she terms “compassionate discrimination,” which manifests itself like, “I know Sarah is busy so I’m not going to include her on this pitch for new work because she has kids, and I don’t want her to have too much on her plate.” She found that this happened on a number of occasions, including client pitches where the client specifically asked for her. “I felt that men were making decisions about my career, my availability and my workload without even asking me, and this would not have been the case if I were a man.”

Despite this devotion to her career, Sarah seeks a balance with her personal life. As a mother of four children, ages 5 to 15, she spends much of her time participating in their activities or just hanging out with them. One thing she is especially proud of is all the volunteer work they do together. Sarah and her family are active with Generation Serve, an Austin-based family volunteering organization whose goal is to develop kids into community-minded leaders. This past April, they received the Wally Pilcher Family Volunteering Award for their work with the organization. She and her daughters are part of the National Charity League, and they also work directly with Austin Pets Alive.

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Voice of Experience: Kerri Durso, Shearman & Sterling

Kerri Durso By Cathie Ericson

Don’t be afraid to speak up, urges Shearman & Sterling’s Kerri Durso, a New York-based counsel in the Derivatives & Structured Products practice.

“I find young lawyers– and women in particular– can be hesitant to speak up in groups. If you know the answer, share it without feeling intimidated by others,” she advises. “Having a true presence at the table is more than just being there and taking notes, but providing material information in an appropriate manner when you have it.”

A Career Built on Industry Mastery

After summering at Shearman & Sterling during her second year of law school, Kerri joined the firm’s Financial Restructuring & Insolvency practice as a full-time associate in 2008. She notes that this was a fantastic time to be an insolvency lawyer, with Lehman Brothers having filed for bankruptcy only the month before she started. “I learned so much in those first two years of working on the Lehman case for several of its creditors,” she says.

When the Lehman issues began to sort themselves out, she moved to Derivatives and Structured Products, which piqued her interest given the number of derivative claims in the Lehman insolvency. She has been there ever since, working for both the buy-side and sell-side, as well as market utilities.

Learning something new all the time is what keeps her interest fresh. For example, while new derivatives regulation coming out of Dodd-Frank has slowed, the implementation of several important aspects of Dodd-Frank continues. Currently she is deep in implementing the new margin requirements mandating the exchange of variation and initial margin for market participants. The regulations provided for a phased-in implementation schedule, and several financial institutions are subject to deadlines this fall. The market is also preparing for the fall of 2019 when the next phase will apply that requires new industry form documentation. “It is very exciting to be a part of drafting form documents that will be used for years to come in the derivatives market,” she notes.

While she has enjoyed many aspects of her work, the professional achievement Kerri says she is most proud of is the role she has played in expanding Shearman & Sterling’s relationship with several financial institutions. Through her personal connections and hard work, she has helped secure a number of meaningful engagements. “The breadth of the work is always changing, but knowing that our firm has the resources to serve a variety of different needs of our clients is something I am proud to be a part of,” she says.

Sharing Wisdom is Crucial for Future Generations

One lesson Kerri has learned along the way – that, as she admits, no one wants to learn – is that everyone makes mistakes, and the key is what you do after. “Recognize the mistake and raise the issue with those you are working with in a timely fashion,” she recommends. “There are few mistakes that cannot be fixed if you take responsibility and raise the issue as soon as possible,” she says, adding that clients and coworkers will respect you for addressing the mistake head on.

Over the years she learned many professional lessons from her sponsors, both male and female, whom she says have encouraged her throughout her career. She recommends young lawyers entering the industry put effort into finding someone they can relate to and emulate, cultivating the relationship if it doesn’t occur naturally. “These are the people who will help guide you through difficult issues in the workplace and that you can look to for career advice,” she says.

She encourages her peers to proactively assume those roles by taking an interest in the junior lawyers they work with. “I hope that I can play the same role my sponsors did for me for even one lawyer,” she says.

Kerri has been active in WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention), the firm’s women’s inclusion network, which emphasizes mentorship, professional development and awareness for all lawyers. She co-chaired the group for two years and proudly attends their functions today, finding it to be a good forum to discuss career paths and learn how others have excelled.

In order to maintain a healthy work-life balance, Kerri says it’s imperative to find time to unplug; for example, she plans at least one great family vacation each year. It doesn’t always need to be to somewhere exotic, she says, but somewhere she can relax with her two-and-a-half-year-old son, infant daughter and husband. In addition, she is enjoying working with her son in the small vegetable garden they planted. “I truly enjoy spending time with my family and anything we do together is a treat,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Jocelyn B. Redman, Counsel, Shearman & Sterling

Jocelyn B. RedmanBy Cathie Ericson

All different types of people can succeed at law firms, says Jocelyn Redman.

“Even if at first you don’t see people who look just like you or come from the same background, remember that you can succeed with different goals by leveraging your strengths and forging the career that works best for you.”

As A Shearman & Sterling “Lifer” She Finds the Career She Always Sought

Redman’s goal had always been to become a lawyer, but she felt that working in an office environment in another field would afford her a useful perspective on her career. She spent her first four years out of college working on energy and environmental policy analysis, and then went to law school. While earning her law degree at American University’s Washington College of Law, she joined the firm as a summer associate and has been there ever since, and was promoted to Counsel effective as of March 1.

Redman started at Sherman & Sterling in the finance group in New York City, joined the real estate practice after two years and relocated to the Washington, D.C. office in 2014. She works with her colleagues in New York and London, handling issues such as acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures and leasing; she particularly enjoys matters involving Washington D.C. real estate given how hot real estate development is currently in that city.

“I’m always working with clients to suggest avenues that can guard against the tendency toward a boom-and-bust cycle,” she says, adding that the D.C. market is particularly appealing for investments – the continuous needs of the government can protect against the typical harsh fall that the real estate industry as a whole can have when markets turn. “We are always looking to tap alternative resources and be aware of trade-offs and how to protect our clients’ investments.”

Using Diversity As A Tool For Success

Over the years, Redman has found that participation in Shearman & Sterling’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) group has been useful as a way to get to know women partners and counsel from other specialty groups. She’s also found the “Lean In” circles to be applicable, particularly one module about body language that helped participants become more aware of the unintended messages they might inadvertently be sending through their presentation and carriage.

She believes that being a woman in the legal field can be a benefit, since clients are looking for diversity and differing perspectives in their legal teams. In fact, she finds that one of the biggest barriers for women in the legal field – especially at law firms – can be perception, rather than reality.

“I find that women worry that a legal career might take all your time, and that the only type of person who can succeed are those who put everything else aside,” she says. “And that in itself can cause women to self-select out, or decide they should take on a smaller role, when in reality those steps are not necessary and can just result in women lawyers taking jobs where they are being paid less and have less opportunity to grow in their careers.”

She cautions women not to assume you have to give your entire life to your career or play into the notion that success requires constant sacrifice. Unfortunately, she sees lawyers who perpetuate the stereotype by contributing to the myth that you can never have your weekends free or take vacations. “I am still learning to balance,” she says, “but there are ways to have hobbies and a family and be successful at your job.”

With a young daughter herself, Redman is learning to focus on other priorities outside of work while still providing excellent legal services to her clients on behalf of her firm. “Some of this ability to balance comes from maturing in your job,” she points out. In fact, traveling is another priority and over the years she has taken three trips to Africa with her mom.

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Voice of Experience: Rupa Briggs, Counsel, Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling

Rupa BriggsBy Cathie Ericson

If you’re interested in doing something, be proactive and ask for it, recommends Rupa Briggs, who was just promoted to counsel as of March 1.

She notes that when you first start out you should work on as many different projects as possible to figure out what you like, and focus on building a strong reputation because competence begets more work. “Sometimes we tend to be ‘good girls,’ and don’t necessarily ask for opportunities, but you can’t be passive about your career. You must be in the driver’s seat,” she says. Because while people may have good intentions and want to be helpful, only you can plan the road map to get to your next steps.

Growing Her Career at Shearman & Sterling

After starting her legal career at a different firm, Briggs joined Shearman & Sterling in 2016, impressed with its capital markets platform and seeing vast opportunities for advancement and growth.

Over the years, she has become a trusted advisor to her clients, the professional achievement she is most proud of so far. “As a junior associate, you spend most of your time learning the deal process and how you fit into the larger picture, but as you continue to develop as an attorney and your knowledge of the substance of your practice grows, your interactions and client relationships begin to change,” she says. “It was so satisfying and rewarding when clients were directing questions to me in the first instance, instead of to a partner or senior associate,” she says, adding that it was very confidence building.

Currently Briggs is working on a couple of healthcare-related IPOs, which she finds exciting and interesting since it’s such an important milestone in these companies’ evolution to help them reach the next step in commercializing their drug or product. The space she is working in is cutting-edge and includes smaller biotechs focusing on, in some cases, rare diseases and medtech companies with innovative products for large patient populations.

“For me it’s tremendously satisfying because you see the impact these drugs or products will have on individuals, and you know that even in the context of an IPO, you are making a difference by helping the company raise the capital they need to get to the next level.”

Other exciting areas that will impact the world of business and financial markets are blockchain and artificial intelligence. Briggs sees that regulatory issues related to these emerging technologies will continue to evolve, and she watches with interest to see how clients will integrate these technologies into their own businesses and how Shearman & Sterling can help them navigate the challenges from a regulatory standpoint.

Women Need To Advocate Together

Briggs has found that it can be more challenging for women to develop the informal networks that men generally have. Because law partnerships tend to be male-dominated, many women face a dearth of role models. She encourages women to focus on building their own informal networks. “We put our heads down and work hard, but there are other skills and elements that are necessary to become successful that we don’t always know about.”

One ally is the firm’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) group, which she co-chairs, that offers both the opportunity to network and to learn more about these informal norms, while also building the professional development skills that women don’t as easily pick up, from building your brand to establishing and maintaining trusted relationships with clients.

She believes that men might naturally have more avenues to learn these skills and market them – so it’s important for women to support one another in creating those paths if they are not emerging.

On that note, she recommends building networks with both senior and junior women and urges senior professionals to pay it forward and serve as a mentor that a junior person can turn to for advice. “Being available and engaged with other women is the key to retention,” she says. She looks forward to helping further build the WISER program as it continues to focus on providing women at the firm with the tools to build their careers and professional relationships.

As mom to an active preschooler, Briggs says she focuses less on achieving work/life balance than just making sure she’s doing her best. “It’s easier to manage what’s going on and integrating work and life when you are engaged. The personal and intellectual satisfaction I receive from the practice spills over nicely to make all the parts of my life blend successfully.”

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Voice of Experience: Helen Cook, Counsel, Shearman & Sterling

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 By Cathie EricsonHelen Cook

Helen Cook describes her career as a jagged line veering all over the place. A native Australian, she first started at a law firm there, but took a job in Dubai sight unseen after being bit by the travel bug. Working on energy and infrastructure projects in the Middle East region, she developed a specialty in nuclear energy, which she took to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and then to Shearman & Sterling, where she is a counsel in the Washington, DC office. Today she focuses on international nuclear law, a field she never dreamed of entering, particularly given that Australia has no nuclear power plants.

Harnessing the Opportunities in Nuclear

“Had I known I would eventually enter this field, I might have combined my law degree with an engineering or science degree; because as a nuclear lawyer you have to understand the basic technicalities of nuclear energy, but I’ve done my best to learn on the job and from people in the industry,” she says.

In fact, along the way she even wrote a legal textbook, The Law of Nuclear Energy, not long after she had ventured into the nuclear sector. After complaining that there were few useful resources available for lawyers starting out in the area, a former mentor encouraged her to write the book she would have found useful. The resulting piece was published in 2013, and a second edition is currently in the works.

Since there are relatively few new nuclear new build projects in the world today, she considers herself extremely privileged to be working on the largest – a deal that is close to being finalized after a two-year investment of time in the Middle East. In addition, she is working on two in the UK and one in Turkey.

Nuclear is a complicated industry, but despite its challenges she believes that the focus on climate change in global energy policy should see enhanced recognition of the benefits of nuclear energy. “The nuclear industry also needs to more clearly and credibly articulate the potential of nuclear energy to help achieve global warming goals,” she says, adding that its emissions are comparable to those of wind power and hydroelectric power.

Challenges and Opportunities in Conquering the Industry as a Younger Woman

The generational imbalance in nuclear industry started around in the 1990s when people left the industry after Chernobyl, so she says there’s a lot of gray hair at most major nuclear conferences – and it’s mostly on men. “It’s probably hard to find a more male-dominated sector out there,” she says. And, a lot of her work is in the Middle East, where being a professional female can be more challenging.

Her hope is that more young women will be interested in a career in the sector, but she acknowledges they have to be willing to be bold and challenge themselves to do things that might seem out of step – citing the book she authored as an example. “If my boss hadn’t suggested I write it, it wouldn’t have occurred to me, but it helped establish my personal brand and reputation in the market,” she notes.

At Shearman & Sterling, she considers herself fortunate that there are many strong women leaders in the project development and finance practice and throughout the firm, as well as male mentors, who are willing to push you forward. “It’s crucial that men will put you in a room full of other men and not hesitate to give you the lead negotiating role. There have been a number of male partners who have been instrumental in pushing me into leadership roles, which have had tremendous impact on my success as a woman,” she says.

Since her work most often entails a weekly grueling international flight or two, she realizes more than most the value of coming home, where it feels like a vacation as soon as she walks in the door. Her ideal vacation at home? Going for a run around the Georgetown waterfront and cooking a meal with her partner in the evening.

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