March 2006, to start my training contract.

What have been your career highlights?

As a trainee the highlight was probably getting to live and work in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe for six months. More professionally it is advising IRF European Finance Investments Ltd on its listing on the Specialist Fund Market of the London Stock Exchange. As it was only the third fund to be listed on this new market there was a real sense of doing something new and innovative.

Spending six months on secondment at Cordea Savills LLP, a leading UK property fund manager, was also something of a highlight, both in terms of the work done setting up their flagship open-ended UK real estate fund and also in terms of getting a clearer understanding of what clients expect and would prefer from their legal counsel.

More generally I have been fortunate to gain extremely broad experience in a relatively short period time, having acted on main market, AIM and Specialist Fund Market Listings, as well as private funds across various sectors.

What, in your view, is the one best thing about Hogan Lovells?

Undoubtedly the people. The investment funds team in London in which I work has a particularly collegiate atmosphere and there is a high level of information exchange, both formal and informal, between all the associates and also the partners, who operate a genuine open door policy. We also get on extremely well as individuals and as a team which always makes coming into the office every morning much easier, even on the greyest of Mondays.

The work is also of an extremely high quality, with direct exposure to clients the norm from a very early stage.

What was your best holiday?

Anywhere from Rio to Rangoon to Tahiti. They've all been good and long may it continue!