Jennifer Bethlehem – Partner
My route to Freshfields was a bit unconventional. I spent seven years working as a nurse before I started my law degree – and even then I kept nursing all the way through my course. My training contract was with another firm, which was when I realised what sort of work I wanted to do: I wanted to be a corporate lawyer doing the best corporate work. That meant working for the best corporate firm, so I applied to Freshfields after qualifying.
In retrospect, I wish I’d done my training here. Training contracts at most other firms only give you three or four seats, but at Freshfields you can take up to eight. It really helps you develop contacts so no matter where you qualify you already know people in other disciplines and departments. Your professional network is invaluable when you’re working as a qualified lawyer, so it makes sense to start building it early.
I’ve been at Freshfields for eight years now and I became a partner three months ago. I’m in the corporate department and have a wide-ranging practice covering: public and private mergers and acquisitions and securities. Being a partner means working on more projects; it also gives you more control over the direction of your career and practice.
In my time at Freshfields one of my most challenging projects was a year on secondment to the legal team of a major international investment bank. I was there through the Lehman Brothers collapse, working on anything from equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, to general legal questions. During that year the full forces of the market were at their most unpredictable; on every deal you had to think through implications that just weren’t apparent a year before.
Jennifer Bethlehem
Partner
Joined: 2001
Education: King’s College London
Department: Corporate