Alumni Testimonials

• Sophie Johns, BA Classics, Bristol; MSt Greek and Latin, Oxford
• Ivana Kuric, BA Classical Studies, Bristol; MSt Greek and Latin, Oxford
• Evelyn Heis, BA English; MA Comparative Literatures & Cultures, Bristol
• AJ Birt, BA History; MA History, Bristol
• Jamie Jewkes, BA Philosophy & Theology; MA Philosophy, Bristol
• Eleanor Lynch, BA Religion and Theology, Bristol
• Alex Brown, BA History, Bristol

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Alex Brown, BA History, Bristol

At first glance, working in a hyper-dynamic environment like Private Equity as a lawyer seems worlds away from the academic world of studying history as an undergraduate in Bristol. That said, there are several skills I was able to develop during my time at university which have proved invaluable, both in private practice and in my current role as a secondee working in-house at a Multi-Strategy Alternative Asset Manager based in London.

There are the obvious examples, such as developing the ability to think critically with respect to diverse source materials, many of which you wouldn’t have encountered previously, and this was certainly the case when I was at Bristol. I was able to study a particularly broad range of modules, ranging from studying contemporary views on the nature of governance during the height of the War of the Roses to interpreting what the Waco siege represented for the separation of church and state in the US, and this variety gave me exposure to a wide selection of unfamiliar topics and themes. I was always actively encouraged to apply a similar approach which I continue to use to this day – when it comes to interrogating source material, it’s always key to understand what the purpose of the document is, what is (or more importantly, what isn’t) the document saying and ultimately how does this fit into the broader context?

This is particularly relevant when conducting diligence and seeking to identify red flag issues for our clients, particularly when there is a need to situate issues in broader contexts, such as market conditions and regulatory environments. This confidence in addressing the ambiguity of sometimes highly fragmented sources is also particularly relevant on the types of complex multi-jurisdictional transactions I regularly come across, especially when you add in the time pressure of an auction process or a less cooperative seller! There’s no guarantee, whether in academia or the commercial world, that the source material you are looking for is even available, so being able to make a judgment and cultivate an argument with limited resources and applying the relevant context is a particularly sought after skill – particularly when stakeholders come to their lawyers if they’re needing to understand the realistic risks of issues flagged.

There’s another element to studying history at Bristol which was also invaluable but sometimes overlooked - I was fortunate enough to have tutors who actively encouraged participation in seminars through my degree and this ability to engage, contribute and most importantly, disagree with the people you work alongside is something that has stuck with me ever since. Inevitably during negotiation of transaction documents, there will be points which are highly emotive or need to be dealt with delicately, and having the emotional intelligence to consider these and respond with the requisite degree of nuance and understanding is a considerable skill, the significance of which cannot be understated!