Jane Edwarde

Variety

I have always enjoyed the wide variety of work on offer at Slaughter and May. There is a thrill in seeing your deals in the news or on the front page, and for me, as a real estate lawyer, development work interests me most. It is really rewarding to work with a client from when the project is conceived to the end product, helping them achieve planning permission, buy the site, build out the property and sell or lease it to occupiers in order to realise a product, hopefully. I am really interested in the architecture and design of development projects, and the property industry is a fun and sociable industry. As a partner, it has been great to get involved in some really important non-chargeable activities, especially my recent work in diversity and inclusion which I am enjoying.

Development and sport

Every development is tangible and interesting – you experience the end product and none is better or more exciting than a football stadium! We worked on Arsenal’s move to the Emirates stadium and the legacy real estate work from that project, as well as new upgrade projects on the stadium and the training facilities, still continues. We are currently working on Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock in Liverpool Waters, which has been so interesting. We also helped with the Olympic Village for the 2012 Olympic Games and previously bid for Wembley stadium. I love all sport, so this type of work excites me most.

The economics of real estate

I also really enjoy the economics of the real estate sector. It can be maligned as an industry, but it is resilient; as the retail high street suffers, logistics assets for distribution centres succeed. Repurposing and reinventing is a good thing, I think. The global pandemic has had its effect on the office market, but occupiers still want and need an office and perhaps even more so now as a place to see and appreciate colleagues and work and train as a team, off the screen. There is a need for affordable housing and workspace and the central and local authority policy around that is fascinating too.

Current clients

My biggest client is Derwent London, a listed real estate investment trust who have an incredibly successful business model and product. Deals for Derwent London include their development above the Crossrail station at Tottenham Court Road and their acquisition of Moorfields Eye Hospital, near our office. I also enjoy private equity real estate lending deals, and of course all sport work.

Recruitment

I am heavily involved in trainee recruitment for the firm, which I enjoy. I am jointly responsible for recruitment from the Scottish universities, with a particular focus on Edinburgh. If I was to give one tip to potential candidates, I would say don’t assume that you won’t fit in here. We genuinely don’t ‘cookie cut’ here, and it takes all sorts of backgrounds and personalities to make a firm interesting.