LSE's On The Case

In this episode, our guest speaker Rob Marks speaks to Anson about the topic of leveraged buyouts (LBO) in America, and shares his experiences from his decades-long career in the LBO field. Particularly, he demystifies the workings of Private Equity deals, the structure of an LBO deal, the legal input LBO lawyers provide in their services and the necessary qualities of an LBO lawyer.Rob is currently a Managing Partner of Tomlinson Advisory Group, a boutique law firm focused on serving the M&A, capital raising and other transactional needs of growth companies. He is also the author of the recently published memoir The Associate: My Personal Journal to Private Equity Law Firm Partner, which details his professional career through a series of anecdotes.Aspiring commercial solicitors, this is not an episode to miss! Beyond our podcast, interested audience members may purchase a copy of The Associate where Rob gives a personal account of how LBO deals operate and more below: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVGBD5PX

In this episode, our guest speakers Emmie Jones, Frederick Labovitch, Katie Morgan and Tom Owen, all representatives from White and Case, speak to Shanaya about the unveiling of a private equity deal that has happened recently.With speakers ranging from trainee solicitors to associates to partner, this podcast shines a special light by highlighting the different roles present in a firm and the communications and dynamics that happen between these parties, ultimately allowing the entire deal to go through smoothly.Aspiring commercial solicitors, this is not an episode to miss!Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at @lsesonthecaseEmail us with any feedback or enquiries at onthecase.lse@gmail.com

John Kwan, the founder of London-based legal tech startup 10BE5, speaks to our host Shanaya about his career in legal tech. From practicing at Cleary Gottlieb for over six years since his NQ (newly qualified) days to his pivot to entrepreneurship, his seasoned legal experience offers a profound understanding of the legal tech market, which informs his startup’s unique and nuanced offering.In this episode, John elaborates on his career journey, including his participation in A&O’s Fuse programme. He then provides insight into his ideation behind 10BE5’s service, and delves into 10BE5’s flagship N2N feature (which has seen use in a recent Magic Circle IPO deal). Finally, he discusses recent developments in the legal tech industry from the perspective of a legal tech pioneer, including the advent of large-language models. To those considering an alternate route within the legal industry, looking for a starting guide to the work of legal tech, or further building commercial awareness, this episode in the legal tech series is not one to miss!Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at @lsesonthecaseEmail us with any feedback or enquiries at onthecase.lse@gmail.com

In this episode, our guest speaker Farhana Sharmeen, the Head of Latham & Watkins’s Singapore practice and Co-Deputy Asia Managing Partner, speaks to Sophia about her progression as a lawyer. Reflecting on her journey from being a trainee at a local Singaporean law firm to being a senior leader at one of the world’s leading global law firms, she offers a unique insight into life as an international lawyer advising on big-ticket M&A transactions across South East Asia and beyond.Against the backdrop of an economic downturn following the pandemic, Farhana discusses how 2023 has seen a changing landscape of deal activity. With businesses setting new expectations and valuations, deal-making has changed in Singapore across the past 12 months. Farhana elaborates on how the tech, hospitality, and energy sectors have all seen impactful activity in 2023. More specifically, she dives into data centres and the increasing number of deals being struck in this area.Aspiring commercial solicitors, this is not an episode to miss!Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at @lsesonthecaseEmail us with any feedback or enquiries at onthecase.lse@gmail.com

In this episode, our host Gian explores the future of arbitration with Hyunyang (Ashley) Koo, a partner at Lee & Ko and a trailblazer in international arbitration and construction law. Hyunyang was a speaker at a recent International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators and ADR Forum (ICC YAAF) seminar, where she discussed the necessity and feasibility of the practice in today’s commercial landscape.Drawing from Hyunyang’s expertise, this episode focuses on fact witness hot-tubbing, the practice of fact gathering whereby multiple fact witnesses present their evidence concurrently together, rather than independently one at a time. Gangnam Style arbitration refers to fact witness hot-tubbing in which an arbitral session is not concluded with a single hearing, but is backed up by multiple ‘follow-up’ sessions, submissions and hearings. Hyunyang shares her insights on the practical possibilities of Gangnam Style international arbitration, the procedural pitfalls it faces, and the fallibility of memory in the context of fact witness evidence gathering to paint a bigger picture of the position fact witness hot-tubbing can hold in today’s commercial international arbitration cases. We hope you enjoy this episode! Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at @lsesonthecaseEmail us with any enquiries or feedback at onthecase.lse@gmail.com.

In this episode, our guest speaker Megan Yeates dials in from San Fransisco where she is an Associate at Freshfields' Antitrust, Competition and Trade team. Reflecting on her progression from a trainee solicitor at Freshfields' London headquarters to an Associate part of their small Silicon Valley office, Megan attributes her experience completing an international secondment to New York in their corporate team as the propelling reason for her decision to permanently move to the U.S. to continue her legal career. Within her antitrust practice, Megan has particular expertise navigating the new UK National Security and Investment Act and she draws interesting similarities and differences between this Act and the U.S.'s federal approach to such. Megan also highlights the regulatory and compliance dominance of the EU in areas including antitrust, intellectual property and technology. Finally, Megan and Sophia engage in a thoughtful academic discussion into two major cases she has worked on including Amadeus' succesful defence in the European Commissions' antitrust investigation into parity clauses and Tesco's 10-billion-dollar disposal of its Thai and Malaysian businesses. Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at @lsesonthecaseEmail us with any feedback or enquiries at onthecase.lse@gmail.com.

Trudo Lemmens is a Professor and Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto. He is cross appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Joint Centre for Bioethics, amongst other roles. In this episode, our host Renee and Trudo discusses how Canada prepares to expand the law around euthanasia to include those with mental illness. They further delve into varied reasonings behind both those that support, or oppose this new change.Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn!Email us with any feedback or enquiries at onthecase.lse@gmail.com.