Richard Diffenthal

• Degree: Jurisprudence, St John’s, University of Oxford
• Year joined: 2004
• Practice Area: Corporate
• Office Location: London
• Favourite place: The Kalamegdan, Belgrade, Serbia

I am a Senior Associate in the Corporate Finance group. I work primarily on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and restructurings across a range of sectors (Sport to Financial Services).

I joined Hogan Lovells in February 2004, after having undertaken a two week vacation scheme a couple of years previously. Two things struck me most during my vacation scheme. The first was the firm’s sheer depth of practice areas, in terms of its international offering and the number of different practice areas. The second was just how welcoming and approachable everyone was during my vacation scheme. Following the merger in 2010 which created Hogan Lovells, the depth of practice has become even more pronounced, and the culture and atmosphere remain just as welcoming as I can remember.

Given that I joined an international law firm, I always knew that the work would entail an international element. However, I never envisaged that I would have the opportunity to live and work overseas as a qualified lawyer – about 18 months after qualifying I was asked to go on secondment to a client in Tokyo. I ended up spending nine months working here, primarily advising the internal team on a number of acquisitions and joint ventures in the social media and e-commerce sectors. It was an incredible personal and professional experience. Having been on an international secondment as a trainee and on two client secondments post-qualification, I would wholeheartedly recommend them.

For all aspiring vacation scheme and training contract applicants reading this, I recommend that you try and get first hand experience at a number of different firms (this could be simply by talking to people at law fairs, participating in recruitment events, attending open days or preferably undertaking a vacation scheme). Each firm that operates in this space will offer prospective candidates the opportunity to work on international, high-profile deals. The best way to determine whether a firm is a good fit for you (as opposed to the other way around!) is for you to experience the “culture” first hand for yourself. Ultimately what sets Hogan Lovells apart for me are the people who work here – it truly is a welcoming, non-hierarchical place and that makes all the difference.