Robyn-Dee Herdman - Lawyer
I joined the corporate team as a Junior Lawyer in September 2018 after qualifying as a solicitor with a commercial firm in Belfast. In 2022, I was promoted to Lawyer, and I currently specialise in corporate reorganisations, but I also work on a variety of matters including mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets transactions.
Starting my legal career in the corporate team at Baker McKenzie Belfast has offered me the opportunity to work on a variety of high value and multi-jurisdictional matters for our international client base, often alongside our vast number of global offices. I have found that working with such a diverse group of lawyers globally means that there is always knowledge to be gained from one another, and I have built upon my communication skills significantly. My role has afforded me opportunities that I would not otherwise get in the local market, including a secondment to the Corporate Reorganisations team in the London office in 2020, which was an invaluable experience and a personal career "milestone". Having worked at Baker McKenzie since the beginning of my qualified career, I have greatly appreciated the time and effort given by senior members of the team to help develop the career that I want, rather than just fitting the requirements of the team. Now that I have gained more experience, I enjoy working with the more junior members of the team to do the same for them, and find it very rewarding when I get to witness their success.
Aside from the day-to-day work that I do as a member of the team, I get to work with a great mix of people on a daily basis and can honestly say that the people in Belfast make my work life extremely enjoyable, both on a professional and social level. We operate a flexible working model of "2:2:1" meaning that we work from the office two days a week, from home two days a week, and the other day is flexible. We can choose our days in the office and these are flexible from week to week, I find this flexible approach makes balancing my life outside of work with my professional obligations much easier and more manageable.
The Belfast office also places a lot of emphasis on its CSR responsibilities. As an active member of the Belfast office's Gender Committee, I help to organise events and communications in order to spread the message of gender awareness.