‘Leadership takes many forms’ – the drivers of success for female lawyers

Three lawyers at Mills Oakley reflect on their experiences and lessons learnt from working together as women in the legal profession.

Hoda Nahlous, Sophie Evans, and Chloe Kennedy are part of a rare and exclusive group – that of an all-female-led sell-side practice in a BigLaw firm.

While reaching a senior leadership position in the legal profession in Australia is difficult enough, Mills Oakley partner Hoda Nahlous particularly found “the landscape for women in legal M&A in Australia has been shaped by a long history of male dominance”.

Nahlous, who is the firm’s only female M&A partner, previously served as the national co-head of corporate M&A at KPMG Law Australia, was the NSW state lead for deals, tax and legal, and has worked closely with boards and executive management in governance, conflict management and strategic advice.

In her experience, both nationally and globally, “we are seeing increasingly more women in the legal M&A transactions teams we work with”, but there remains an “underrepresentation of women at the partnership/supervising partner level”.

Nahlous also commented on the increasingly clear pathway for women in the profession due to increased accessibility, particularly since COVID-19, identifying the normalisation of flexible work, more visible female role models and intentional sponsorship as contributing factors.

The best opportunity to rise within practices, she said, comes from a team that has “the capacity to think of collective success and to help each other realise that success”.

For Mills Oakley’s senior associate in M&A and corporate advisory, Sophie Evans, progressing her career while starting a family was only possible due to the support of peers and mentors. She said: “The greatest supports in my career have been driven by individuals rather than systems, which was wonderful but also involved a degree of luck.”

Evans added: “I would encourage workplaces to seek input from women and mothers specifically in designing flexible work systems to encourage and support more women with families in building their careers in law.”

“I wish I had known then that having a family is not a barrier to career progression and that there are significant upsides from a career perspective of having a family.”

Similarly, Mills Oakley associate Chloe Kennedy reflected: “The people who support and sponsor your career have a greater impact than the hours you bill.”

“One of the greatest ways to progress your career is to build strong relationships with colleagues, peers and clients so that they will advocate for your career, even if you are not in the room.”

Kennedy also recalled the significance of learning that career progression is not linear, and “you will not always hit the same career milestones as your peers at the same time”.

She cited Nahlous’ motto that “law is a marathon, not a sprint”, and as such, it is important “to make the most of the downtime when it is available and recharge so that you can hit the ground running again when activity picks up”.

A distinguishing feature of M&A, according to Nahlous, is its dynamic nature that is “very attractive to lawyers looking to learn quickly and on-the-job, and [who] are looking for intellectual engagement and to be challenged”.

The women agreed that M&A has become an exciting practice area for junior lawyers as it exposes them to major corporate transactions – including possible high-profile cases – cross-border transactions, strategy and negotiating, fast-moving and high-stakes environments, the opportunity to work with different teams within a firm, and transactions in emerging industries involving AI, renewables and ESG-driven investments, which represent areas of interest for younger lawyers.

In addition, M&A can offer young legal professionals opportunities to work overseas and the capability to apply their abilities to other career paths down the line.

Nahlous also expressed appreciation of the sell-side engagements “as you get to work with the founders and have to understand the business intricately in order to assess risk profile versus the commercial appetite of the parties to push ahead with the transaction”.

She said: “There are very tangible results working as sell-side counsel – you see the immediate financial benefit for your client(s) and also can track the growth of the company.”

“In many cases, we are advising founders for whom we are selling their first and only business, which they have built over decades. It is an exciting but emotional time for these founders, and we take pride in our role of ensuring they understand the transaction details and are comfortable with the terms.”

On the other hand, the women referenced assisting clients who had founded their own businesses and built them over the course of their entire careers, stating: “It was a really profound moment being able to help them exit with dignity and move on to the next phase of their careers and towards retirement.”

“We continue to keep in contact with these founders, and they express how their respective transactions transformed their lives.”

Nahlous, Kennedy, and Evans “look forward to continuing to strengthen our M&A practice and continue our speciality in advising founders on their successful exit strategies” and manage the “resurging interest in fundraising” they are seeing.

And looking at the landscape for women, Nahlous remains positive that “it is just a matter of time before we see significantly more female representation at the most senior levels of legal M&A, as there is incredible female talent at the senior associate/special counsel and equivalent roles, being the next generation partner cohort”.

According to Evans, her work with Nahlous has shown her that “you can lead in a way that reflects your own principles and strengths”.

Kennedy similarly noted that her colleagues “have really shown me what an excellent M&A lawyer looks like – not only through their commitment to client excellence but also through the way they approach transactions with rigour, calmness and collaboration”.

“I have also learnt from Hoda what it means to be a true sponsor – she consistently advocates for others, creates opportunities and is overwhelmingly generous with her support, using her influence to help people progress with confidence,” Kennedy said.

It is evident that the women share a degree of loyalty, appreciation, and connection that has allowed their business to thrive, and they are perhaps an example for others seeking to support and elevate their team.

And in turn, Nahlous reflected how both Evans and Kennedy “are outstanding professionals that use every opportunity to learn and excel”.

She said: “I rely on them and learn from them every day. The success of our practice, including every favourable outcome and praise from clients and others, is because of their hard work and ambition.”