Name
Summary Business Case (Template)
Skills & Experience
- English qualified lawyer with 10 years’ experience within top-tier City/International law firms
- Extensive expertise in cross-border corporate transactional work for public and private clients
- Specialist sector expertise in the energy and resources sector with particular focus on oil & gas
- Broad geographical coverage with particular recent expertise in the Middle East markets
- Additional commercial experience related to oil and gas operations including upstream contract advice
- Fluent in written and spoken Arabic to legal standard
Summary of Proposal
- Estimated following of £500k - £600k annually based on prior and projected billings in corporate work
- Additional £200k of anticipated referral work to energy team based on prior and projected billings
- Potential to increase this figure significantly given the right international platform
- Likely to require the regular assistance of one associate to execute matters, potentially more on an ad hoc basis
Track Record:
- Summary of role, team size/growth and general achievements to date
- Include billing figures (for two to three years as appropriate)
- Referencing percentage increases can be a simple way of drawing attention to success
- Outline notable client wins (limit it to description and value of new client rather than naming)
- Reference areas of cross-selling success, either you bringing work to others or you capitalising on the platform to add to the overall offering
- If making claim to great success, a simple narrative around how you achieved it (e.g. your business development and client relationship methods) can be useful.
Core Client Following:
- Large MENA Private Equity fund with investment focus on developing energy markets
Close working relationships with GC and a number of senior commercial executives
Advised on various acquisitions and disposals over period of four years
Expectation that this client will remain highly active in next two years
Anticipated value £250k per annum. Highly likely to follow
- Major international oil and gas operator with substantial interests in MENA region
Personal and long-standing friend of MENA GC; various other commercial contacts
Advised on various small to mid-market MENA acquisitions up to value of £75m
Expectation that this client will continue to instruct, with potential to move up value chain
Anticipated value £150k per annum with potential to double. Highly likely to follow
- Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund investing in developing markets energy sector
Senior level professional relationship developed over three years
Advised on various acquisitions as well as sundry commercial advice
Current instruction and good chance of more transactions in next two years
Anticipated value of £50k-£100k corporate and c£100k commercial. Expect client to follow
- Sovereign government in developing oil & gas market
Good and developing relationships with excellent potential
Combination of corporate and general commercial energy advice
Advising on current transaction with another likely to follow plus ongoing advice
Anticipated value of £50k-£100k per annum corporate and c£100k commercial. Expect client to follow
- Additional ‘opportunities to pitch’ are expected with the following:
Oil major where GC is a former colleague – good prospect with right platform
African NOC – personal contact, expressed interest in instructing, ongoing
UK based EPC company – likely disposal of assets, ongoing
Preferred Role:
- Salaried/Fixed Share Partnership with an international law firm
- A good corporate team with a respected profile in the mid-sized private equity market
- A strong oil & gas platform with credible capability in commercial upstream work
- A firm with a commitment to/presence in the Middle East and North Africa region
- Located in London or United Arab Emirates
Notes
With an increasing number of firms only willing to progress partnership applications if they can see the business case at the outset, it is useful to have a summary document such as this for your own purposes as well as for the firm. In constructing it you are likely to ask yourself the very same questions that a firm will be asking if it gets to interview. Furthermore, in some cases you will be asked to provide some/all of this information before an interview is offered.
Further considerations include:
- Remember that this should not constitute a full business plan and should be deliberately discreet particularly in relation to client specifics. A general description should suffice until mutual interest is established at which point you will likely need to disclose more detailed information.
- Layout is not critical – bullet points are just one method but text is equally acceptable as long as it is succinct and covers the vital information. Likewise, the client details can be added in table format if preferred.
- As with all discussions about following, a balanced approach is vital. The risks of over promising are obvious and should be avoided, but also bear in mind that firms will tend to assume that you are erring on the side of ‘optimism’ and so may assume that the figures are the high end of your expectations. With this in mind, it is all the more vital not to undersell yourself.
- If you are more comfortable giving a range and qualifying it that may well make sense. Some of the most coherent business plans will say something along the lines of “£600k to £1m depending on clients’ activity with a mid-range figure of £800k most likely” for example.
- Best to avoid over qualifying your forecasts however. Any sensible Partner will know that this is nothing more than an educated guess based on previous experience and forecasted activity.
For more information and resources related to writing a business plan, please contact Jason Horobin, Head of
International at Origin Legal, on +44 01206 233 514 or by email at [email protected]
Resources you may like
Summarise your experience and show how it fits the role with our CV Template
Summarise your experience and show how it fits the role with our NQ CV Template
When it comes to international recruitment, the option to interview over Skype, BlueJeans, or one of the many other online videoconference platforms.