Best brains in...

Domestic and cross border M&A; private equity investments, portfolio management and exits; and advising management teams on their equity arrangements.

Highlight of your career so far?

There have already been several. I was a key member of the team that acted for Bridgepoint on the secondary buy-out of Fat Face, which was fully funded and signed within 48 hours of first being instructed. I enjoyed advising the senior management of Alliance Boots and Emap on their equity arrangements in two of the largest buyouts ever closed in the UK. Before that it would have to be various energy deals advising Western oil majors on their ventures in Russia, where the intensity of the negotiations was matched by the level of press interest both locally and internationally.

Most challenging job you've ever done?

3i's restructuring and part-sale of the car park group NCP is a stand-out deal. We had to demerge the on-street business that provides parking enforcement services to local authorities before selling the car parks themselves to Macquarie. This meant negotiating at every stage with the two sets of managers and with a selection of minority shareholders.

What about outside the UK?

I lived and practised in Moscow for three years, advising local and overseas businesses and investors on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other forms of co-operation in Russia and the former Soviet Union. I acted for the likes of Shell on significant energy sector investments. I also helped put together deals of varying sizes in real estate, food, retail, metals, engineering and pharmaceuticals.

Dedication to client care? Prove it!

Most corporate lawyers will have tales of dinners missed, holidays cancelled and weekends wiped out. One extreme example that sticks in the mind involved working non-stop through three days and two nights over the weekend that England won the rugby world cup. My client, a larger than life Texan oilman, was happy to stop work for two hours on the Saturday afternoon while we watched the match together in a bar round the corner from Red Square. He let us celebrate England's victory for ten minutes or so before suggesting that we return to the office to work through the deal documents, with an added request for a summary of the rules of rugby!

Best example of a creative legal solution?

Lawyers too often shy away from providing advice that is commercially relevant as well as technically accurate. We should always be looking to provide solutions, based on our experience and a practical application of the law. This might be something as simple as a price chip, a retention or a guarantee, or it might involve completely reworking the deal documentation to create a structure that gets around the issue.

How do you get under the skin of a client business?

I visit my clients in their offices and, most importantly, in the field. Negotiating a sale and purchase agreement in isolation is possible, and occasionally unavoidable, but we are much more focused and effective when we can put the deal in context and understand how it affects our client's business.

What about corporate responsibility?

I have in the past co-funded an orphanage in the Moscow suburbs and raised funds for local charities here in the UK. I am looking forward to getting involved in the firm's corporate responsibility efforts.

What's been written or said about you that you're most proud of?

I worked on a complicated management advisory role throughout November, December and the holiday period of 2009. When the deal closed in early January, I received the following message from the chief executive and the finance director: "a great job; done quietly, professionally and without drama - your advice and style have been impeccable".