Penny McLaren

Penny McLaren - 4th post

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:52:13 GMT

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a relaxing and restful Christmas and New Year and are ready for the challenges of 2010. The new year has certainly brought some exciting new challenges for me. Most importantly, I've decided to make my secondment to property litigation, a permanent move. I'm now going to be a fully fledged litigator. I've been really enjoying the mix of work that being in the litigation department brings, and I'll look forward to the challenges of expanding my practice as my experience grows in this area. That's one of the great things about being a lawyer here at Linklaters; there is always something new to learn. No two days are ever the same. I'm currently preparing to deliver a talk to our Real Estate department on some of the issues that have arisen out of a case that I have been working on concerning break notices in leases. I'll be giving the talk to about 40 people - a mixture of people from trainees to partners. It's always a bit nerve racking doing any type of public speaking, especially when there are some very experienced lawyers in the audience, but we get lots of opportunities here to build up our presentation skills. Also, everyone is always very supportive and it's amazing how often a senior lawyer will call you to discuss a point because you have mentioned it in a presentation and they had not considered it before. It's a great feeling to know you've been able to help your colleagues out and made their job a bit easier. I'm also off skiing to France, in a couple of weeks time. Whilst I love my job, there's nothing better than a good holiday in the fresh mountain air. I cannot wait! Fingers crossed I come back in one piece and will be able to tell you all about it on my return.

Penny McLaren - 3rd post

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:52:13 GMT

Well, it's been a little while since I've been in touch. Things have certainly been pretty busy since I last wrote. The bowling night was great fun. A couple of strikes meant that I didn't put in a totally embarrassing performance. Relief all round! On the work front, I had an exciting early Christmas present when I heard that we had won in the Court of Appeal on a case I have been working on for the last few months. I have been working alongside our property litigation partner on a case for an important client of the firm which had been sued by a landlord who said that the client had breached the terms of its lease. The client instructed us after they had lost the case in the High Court and they wanted us to appeal the decision in the Court of Appeal. It was hard work, but very rewarding. Not many litigators are lucky enough to have a case in the Court of Appeal, so to have the opportunity in my first year of practicing litigation, was fantastic. We instructed an excellent barrister to help with the case. He was hugely impressive and it was fascinating to sit and discuss the case with him and work out what arguments we would use. The drama of the Court room was just as exciting as I had hoped, and to see one of the top QC's in the country debating the points of law and the facts I know so well before a panel of three eminent judges, is a huge buzz. To win the case was just the icing on the (early Christmas!) cake, and makes all the hard work worthwhile. The celebration drinks with the client should be fun too!

Penny McLaren - 2nd post

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:42:21 GMT

Autumn is traditionally a busy time for Property lawyers, and this year is shaping up to be no different. Our clients are keen to do some interesting deals, before the Christmas festivities begin. I'm really excited to have just got involved on a new development project for a client I have worked with over the last few years. In the last couple of weeks, one of the Real Estate partners and I have attended meetings with the client to understand what the project is all about. It’s my job to draft the Heads of Terms, which records the basic principles of the commercial deal between our client, who owns the land, and the developer. Once the Heads of Terms are agreed, we'll be able to use these to put together the more complex legal documents (like the Development Agreement). It's fantastic to be involved at such an early stage of a project and be able to help our client decide its strategy. It shows that to be a good commercial lawyer, you need to fully understand your client's particular business needs and concerns, as well as knowing the law. Oh, and it helps to be able to turn your hand to a bit of bowling too. We’ve got a department night out next week - at the All Star Bowling Lanes in Bloomsbury. I have to say that up till now, bowling has not been my greatest forte, but I feel sure that my accuracy is going to improve after a couple of glasses of wine…I’ll let you know how it goes!

Penny McLaren - 1st post

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:42:34 GMT

I was offered a training contract with the firm after taking part in a four week vacation scheme during the summer of 2001 and started my training contract in March 2004. Before that, I read law at Cambridge University from 1999 - 2002 and completed my LPC in 2003. During my training, I spent six months in the Litigation, Real Estate and Corporate departments in London before going on a six month secondment to MTV, one of the firm’s clients. This was a great experience, not just for the legal challenges, it was also brilliant for impressing my friends. Not many lawyers get to attend a film premiere as part of their job! I qualified into the Real Estate department in March 2006. After a fantastic two and a half years, I moved on a year long secondment to our Property Litigation team, where I’m based currently.

Look out for my next blog when I’ll be telling you a bit more about the daily life of a property litigation solicitor (Hint: fewer film premieres, but the odd outing in wellie boots and a hard hat!)…