Gabrielle Pereira

ROUTE TO SLAUGHTER AND MAY

I did a one-week spring work experience scheme at the firm in my penultimate year of university and applied for a training contract in my final year. As I studied Classics as an undergraduate, I completed the then GDL and Legal Practice Course before starting at the firm.

I joined as a trainee in 2017 and completed seats in Financing, Tax, Real Estate, Technology, Digital, Data and IP, and a six-month secondment to the Slaughter and May Hong Kong office. I qualified into the Tax department in 2019.

QUALIFYING INTO THE TAX TEAM

I really enjoyed all of my trainee seats so choosing where to qualify was difficult! I chose Tax because I liked the size of the department and I knew that the work I would be doing would keep me constantly challenged. The types of work that I usually do as an associate in Tax fall into three categories: transactional, advisory and disputes. I enjoy having a good mix of all of those on my plate at any one time – and I also like working with a variety of clients and other departments in the firm; life in Tax is truly multi-specialist. A day can consist of reviewing documents, attending calls with clients, discussing matters with the Tax partners or trainees, training and in-person meetings.

Teamwork and collaboration are really important at Slaughter and May and as I have become more senior, I find myself managing trainees and junior associates. As a result, I’ve now had the opportunity to hone leadership and supervisory skills. Slaughter and May places a heavy emphasis on training (particularly of trainees), so it is great to be able to contribute to this and help others develop.

HIGHLIGHTS SO FAR

I have recently been involved in Johnson Matthey’s sale of its catalyst technologies business – it is an exciting landmark for our client and it is really gratifying to help them achieve that. The transaction is cross-jurisdiction so the short run-up to signing involved getting input (on an accelerated basis) from overseas legal counsel and accounting teams and folding that into the transaction documentation – and that was an example of how the collaboration fostered internally at Slaughter and May was extremely important when interacting with our client, local counsel and the counterparty as well. The period in between signing and completion has also been active from a tax perspective – we have had to submit a couple of tax-related filings within a month of signing so I have been co-ordinating with local counsel, the client and the counterparty to ensure those filings are complete and submitted on time!

Alongside our excellent Real Estate team, I have also been involved in several professional services firms’ recent ‘London headquarters’ moves. Those matters are a chance to get into some technical real estate tax points – and also an opportunity to advise other law firms!

LIFE ON SECONDMENT 

In my first seat as a trainee, I went on a three-month client secondment to Seadrill (who were in the midst of their US restructuring and bankruptcy process). It was a fantastic opportunity to get to know what businesses want from their external lawyers and witness firsthand how businesses operate (for example, how the Legal function interacts with Treasury, Tax and the wider business and what the “day jobs” look like).

In my final seat, I was seconded to Slaughter and May’s Hong Kong office. I had never lived abroad before so that in itself was an experience. I didn’t have to contend with a language barrier or even a different IT system, so I could really immerse myself in the different working culture and new clients. Whilst on secondment, I worked on Cathay Pacific’s acquisition of Hong Kong Express Airways – my role included rolling out draft documents from templates and assisting with the completion process. The secondment also gave me the opportunity to prepare for newly qualified life as it was during my final seat – I took on more responsibility (for example, running - with support from the partners - smaller corporate/financing transactions).

OUR DIVERSE NETWORK

I am a co-Chair of the firm’s DIVERSE Network, which promotes ethnic and racial diversity within Slaughter and May and outside the firm too. Some recent event highlights have been an afternoon tea networking event to celebrate Black History Month last autumn and an internal cross-office panel event to celebrate Lunar New Year, where colleagues shared their personal traditions and insights into celebrations in London and Hong Kong. I have really enjoyed getting to know others in the firm through the Network and having a space to talk about issues we all feel strongly about.

COMMUNITY AND PRO BONO WORK

I have also been involved in community and pro bono work throughout my time at the firm – some examples are: assisting the Slaughter and May team in the Islington Law Centre as a GDL student; helping with a plastics pollution workshop at a local primary school; tutoring a GCSE student at a local boys’ secondary school in Maths; and mentoring a university student in her first year studying Law.