32 LAWYER WINNER
OF THE YEAR AWARD
SPONSORED BY MERIDIAN CORPORATE FINANCE Sean Kelly of Lamport Bassitt
Left: Lawyer of the Year, Lamport Bassitt’s Sean Kelly (centre), with his trophy awarded by Darren Thompson of sponsor Meridian Corporate Finance (right)
Dealmaking generally involves several professionals from different disciplines, but exceptional individual performances often stand out and can make all the difference to the smooth and successful completion of a deal.
This was the first award of the evening to highlight impressive professional performance by an individual.
Three proven talents of the Solent legal community were shortlisted for this title: Peter Jeffery of Moore Blatch, Sean Kelly of Lamport Bassitt, and Sean Wright of Shoosmiths.
Jeffery led the Moore Blatch team on the complex disposal of Axell Wireless to Cobham, the acquisition of Trinity Expert Systems, and the disposal by the Local Government Association of KHub (the Knowledge Hub).
Kelly has been prominent in deals such as The Appointment Group’s acquisition of ET Travel, the MBI of Andante Travels, the MBO of Darwyler (UK), sale of Premium Crops and the Snell acquisition by Quantel.
Wright, ranked by Chambers as one of the best 100 business lawyers in the UK, leads the south corporate team as well as
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heading up Shoosmiths’ national private equity practice. In 2013 his deals included The Training Room investment by LDC, and advising on the MBO of Imagine Publishing.
This category was sponsored by Meridian Corporate Finance, the independent corporate finance boutique, and the firm’s partner Darren Thompson turned the tables on a surprised Sean Kelly when he announced the Lamport Bassitt lawyer’s name as the winner.
Kelly, who had made the previous award of the evening as the representative of category sponsor Lamport Bassitt, came back to the stage to shake hands and receive the category trophy – this time as the winner.
Sean Kelly was justifiably proud at becoming ’Lawyer of the Year’ for the first time. “I’ve been nominated for this award before, but never won it. We (Lamport Bassitt) have had a good year, but this is a highlight because it reflects an element of recognition among your peers and a sympathetic view of what you have done.“
Kelly felt the award also recognised his consistent level of good service over many years within the corporate finance community. “It’s not that I do something that others don’t strive to do, but I do look to recognise the need for integrity
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2014
with the client, commitment to what they need. The significance of a professional adviser is that the client has to place trust in you and that trust can be easily abused.
“The reason that you get out of bed every morning has to be that you want to deliver something of value to the individual client. They might not see that value, but, from your perspective, you know if you have done a good job or not. I always try to do that job with care, thoroughness and consideration for the client’s needs.“
Are legal aspects in deals more complex, more important nowadays? “They have always been important, but it is much easier to get distracted by the irrelevant, and to forget the old maxims of understanding exactly the client’s position, and staying focused on the key elements.“
Lawyers should frequently check if they are involved with ’the wheat not the chaff’, Kelly advised, by mentally putting themselves in the client’s shoes to ensure they are meeting the crucial deal requirements.
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