Legal consulting with Peerpoint.

I’m a mid-level private equity lawyer. I made the jump to consulting in 2021, after four years in private practice at the London and New York offices of a leading U.S. law firm. I’d gained valuable experience advising on mergers and acquisitions, large reorganisations, big commercial contracts and more but I started to feel I needed more variety.

I think it’s important to embrace different kinds of legal experience as you progress up the career ladder. That way, you can broaden your capabilities and stay employable. Through legal consulting with Peerpoint, I’m discovering all that is very achievable.

My current placement, for example, is with a global venture capital firm. This is a field I’ve long wanted to explore. The legal team is quite small, so I knew I’d be tasked with quite substantial, senior-level responsibilities that would stretch me – exactly what I was looking for. So far, I’ve worked on some really big projects that involve the firm’s U.S. offices, so there’s also the added attraction of a multinational environment.

It's been a big boost to my confidence as a lawyer realising that I can step into a new field, as I have done with this engagement, and make a success of it. Being proactive, adaptable and a quick study definitely helps. What’s also been great is knowing Peerpoint has my back. The team has been super supportive. I know if I have any issues, they will be there for me.

So far, I’ve chosen to engage with Peerpoint through my own legal practice. This way, I feel I can test the waters and experiment with consultancy work patterns while retaining a few other clients at the same time.

Most of all, I’m enjoying the fact that I’m not locked permanently into any one environment and have more control of my working life. That enables me to balance my dedication to clients with other interests. I’m a passionate amateur boxer and marathon runner and keeping fit is a huge part of my life. Working this way means I can accommodate my training routine.

I’m just delighted at how well consulting has worked out so far and look forward to continuing my partnership with Peerpoint.

My switch to legal consulting came relatively early in my career. I had three years’ post-qualified experience gained in leading international law firms in London, with experience advising on cross-border M&A and private equity transactions, as well as complex corporate and financial restructures. I’d reached a point where I felt more technically competent and confident in what I was doing but I also wanted a way to gain more flexibility and control over my working life, without sacrificing quality roles.

So far, consulting is proving a fantastic path to exploring that. The assignments Peerpoint offers are with top-tier firms, so I’ve been able to continue working at a high level as a lawyer but with far greater autonomy in terms of what I take on.

As I’m not locked permanently into any one environment, I’ve been able to gain experience in different sectors and enhance my skillsets as I progress. For example, a recent placement saw me working in-house as part of a data privacy team. I was handling high-value commercial contracts, drafting templates – some from scratch – and working closely with technical experts who valued my legal advice. It was a terrific experience and I learned so much.

Working more flexibly also means I can explore opportunities outside the traditional law firm model. For instance, I’m very interested in ethical artificial intelligence (AI) and want to help ensure that this incredible technology can be used for good. That’s led to me co-founding a technology company. Our software platform offers technical documentation and governance controls that enterprises can apply to their AI systems, helping them manage and minimise any associated risks.

The Peerpoint team has been really helpful. They’re quick to offer support whenever I’ve needed it, including offering me an Allen & Overy partner contact. I’ve also been impressed by how carefully they’ve sought to match me with the right opportunities. They know I’m fascinated by technology, so I’ve been offered quite a few exciting assignments with a tech slant – anything from cryptocurrency to enterprise AI, which is obviously right up my street.

I’d recommend consulting to anyone, it’s allowed me to add more variety to my career while rebalancing my working life. It’s really been a great fit for me at this stage of my career.    

I have a rule when it comes to my career: every six months I reassess my top priorities, write them down and commit to them. At the start of my career, the focus was on salary and becoming a partner. Five years after qualifying, I began to re-examine what I wanted to do.

That’s where Peerpoint came in. I read about someone on the panel who is an artist and uses Peerpoint to supplement his artistic work. It really struck a chord with me, so I joined. Having more control gave me the chance to re-visit my childhood dreams: boxing and stage acting. A bigger one though was my interest in business. Peerpoint allowed me to explore that, to the point where I’ve launched my second social impact startup, 30 Minute Chat

Peerpoint hasn’t just enabled me this opportunity, it’s been the perfect partner every step of the way. The team worked very hard to find assignments that match my own criteria to the point where, when I first joined, I received three offers all in line with what I was looking for. That’s what surprised me the most: many of their clients are actively looking for lawyers at an earlier stage in their career, like me.

I left Allen & Overy when my family moved abroad, but I was still interested in working. When we moved back to the UK, I was keen to work but I knew I wouldn't be able to work in the same way I used to; the long hours in the office no longer suited me. So, I turned to consultancy.

I wanted quality, high-profile, technically challenging work. With Peerpoint I can make a positive choice to take on an assignment. I support the banking team at A&O, either in the office or from home, around four or five hours a day when the children are at school. When they're on holiday, I am too. Our clients are international – I can work from the office or from home, and still fully support the client.

The London LMA market is well developed and you need to stay on top of the market. What I'm doing now keeps me up to speed. If I want to develop my career further, I still can. At one point I thought I'd have to give up my career; now I can take it from here.

Specialising in M&A, capital markets and debt financing law by day, I’m also at the start of an acting career, which places me in rather a unique position. It was this, in fact, that prompted my joining of the Peerpoint panel in April 2017. 

Peerpoint has a sophisticated set-up and provided a viable way for me not only to take periods of time off between assignments to focus on my acting, but also to pursue both careers simultaneously. Peerpoint is solutions-focused, facilitating the needs of the client assignment, while encouraging the professional and personal ambitions of the consultant. There has been total transparency around my commitments, and I’ve found Peerpoint and the clients to be both receptive of, and interested in, my acting work.

As lawyers we tend to be risk-averse, yet taking the step into consultancy can provide so much freedom and opportunity. It’s exciting working for different clients and learning about their organisations in a way in which you may not within a permanent role. It provides an opportunity to not only expand your business and legal network but also to leverage from Allen & Overy’s contacts and relationships. A&O also has an impressive international network, meaning they are well placed to support foreign lawyers in their relocation plans, or in gaining international exposure.

Peerpoint engenders a huge amount of respect for what lawyers are trying to achieve in their personal and professional lives, and that’s really refreshing to see.

A solicitor specialising in litigation and financial regulation, I trained and worked in private practice in Hong Kong for nine years, before moving in-house to work for an investment bank. While I enjoyed my work as a lawyer, I sought more variety over the type of work I chose to do, and wanted more control over my working hours.

Since joining Peerpoint, I have worked as a professional support lawyer supporting the Allen & Overy Hong Kong litigation team, on contentious financial regulatory investigations within the Hong Kong office, and in the financial crime compliance team of a global investment bank. Peerpoint works with high-calibre, international clients, which gives me access to challenging, top-tier work. It also presents opportunities for me to work outside of litigation and investigations.

Peerpoint offers excellent resources, such as in-house seminars, know-how and events, as well as opportunities to network among the consultants. For me, consulting with Peerpoint has given me a greater work-life balance, and has enabled me to pursue my Japanese language studies. With a more flexible working structure, I have also had more time to travel and explore Japanese culture, which has provided me with a really valuable opportunity that most likely would not have been possible within a permanent role.