Fallon is an associate at Orrick, where she is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Group. She represents public and private companies in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions transactions on both the buy side and sell side, and in strategic investments. She chatted with us recently about her experience in the New Business Community Law Clinic and how it helps in her new role.
What have you been up to since being an NBCLC clinic student?
I was a clinic student in spring 2018. Since graduation, I’ve worked as an Orrick associate where I advise public and private companies on complex transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. I typically advise technology and live science companies.
What if anything do you miss about working in the clinic?
I miss the clients the most. When I was working in the clinic, I had the opportunity to meet with entrepreneurs who had so much passion and commitment to seeing their dreams come alive. It was very rewarding to be able to be a part of bringing new business ideas to life.
Is there anything you learned in the clinic that has been helpful in your current practice?
I learned about the importance of listening to clients and asking the right questions so that I can best assess their needs. I think the clinic helped me become more confident when engaging with clients. As an M&A associate, we don’t typically have direct client contact until year two or three, so it was invaluable to be able to have that client experience as a student.
In the clinic, I quickly learned that there may be times where I don’t know the answer to a client question. In practice, there are also times when I don’t know the answers, but my clinic experience helped me become comfortable and confident communicating that with my client and team, while I work quickly to shore up that knowledge with research. Overall, I believe that my experience with the clinic has made me a better attorney and I’m grateful for the experience.
And now you’ve come back to volunteer! What’s that like?
Being an attorney volunteer is similar to my experience as a student volunteer in that I’m still helping clients solve problems, but I now have more context. I understand the significance of the documents I’m drafting and how they fit into the bigger picture. And now I’m able to draw on my work experience to help the clinic clients identify potential issues and solve problems they might not be thinking of.