Position: Associate
Education: Law LLB, King's College London
Joined Clifford Chance: February 2009 Qualified Energy & Infrastructure Finance, March 2011

I chose Clifford Chance because of its collegiate atmosphere. I felt that there was no expectation that employees should adhere to a particular mould, so long as you do the job and do it well.

I completed all of my seats in London. My first seat was in the Financial Institutions Group, the second was in Securitisation, the third was in Energy & Infrastructure, and my final seat was in the General Banking department. The most challenging aspect of being a trainee solicitor is having to juggle multiple workloads for different people. It's not always clear which work stream should be prioritised at any given time, and your judgment of what is or is not time-critical only comes with experience.

I qualified into Energy & Infrastructure, which was my first choice. The group is sector-driven and the finance transactions are all unique. Over the course of any month, we can be involved in the financing of a power or infrastructure project, a legal review of energy, mining, oil and gas or telecommunications assets in different jurisdictions, or providing regulations advice to an energy provider. I tend to work on three or four transactions at a time and the work ranges from drafting bespoke clauses for finance documents to reviewing guidance from an industry regulator to assess the potential impact on a client's business.

I'm part of the steering committee for Arcus, our global network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees at Clifford Chance. Its main objective is to foster an inclusive environment where LGBT employees feel comfortable being open about their sexual orientation. Our activities and events throughout the year include pro bono initiatives with LGBT charities and our annual Pride Art Exhibition which showcases the work of LGBT artists on the 30th floor of 10 Upper Bank Street.

Arcus gives a welcome presentation to each new intake of trainees followed by a welcome drinks event for new members. I think most LGBT employees at Clifford Chance feel that they can be fairly open about their sexual orientation. Within Arcus there's representation at all levels of fee earner (e.g. partners, trainees), as well as from our business support staff. Sexual orientation is a non-issue in most professional workplaces these days and I've personally felt very comfortable sharing this aspect of myself with my colleagues. During my training contract, I never felt the need to hide anything from the people I worked for and each of my supervisors has taken an interest in my personal life, not just my professional development.

Outside of work, I'm an avid rock climber and my colleagues are quite used to me showing up with a large rucksack and coils of rope on a Friday if I'm leaving for a climbing trip that weekend. I've got my heart set on climbing The Old Man of Hoy, in the Orkney Islands, before I'm 30. It's a 449ft sea stack made famous when Chris Bonnington climbed it in 1966, featured in a live broadcast by the BBC.