2019 Influential Businesswoman Awards

14 Acquisition International - 2019 Influential Businesswomen Awards Most Influential Woman in Commercial Law 2019 - UK: Costigan King With offices in New York and London, Costigan King is a full-service law firm with an international reach and a reputation for excellence. CEO and Founding Partner, Arianne King, provides us with a fascinating insight into how she helped create the practice and works to this very day to steer it towards success. stablished in London in 2016 as Al Bawardi Critchlow, the firm re-branded in 2018, through a strategic partnership with US- based Costigan Law, to form Costigan King. Costigan King now advises multi-national clients across global markets, offering a tailored service across a wide range of practice areas. Having been with the firm since its formation, starting as an associate and progressing to become Partner, Managing Partner and then CEO, Arianne has the ambition and ability to drive the firm forward. She begins by explaining how she draws on her expertise and insight gained at previous firms, combined with the support of her team, family and other business leaders, to ensure her firm is always providing the exceptional standard of service that clients deserve. “My experience as a lawyer, at other firms, has formed a solid foundation for my role as CEO at Costigan King. I am driven to provide my clients with the very best advice both legally and commercially. As a business owner, I am very well placed to understand the inner workings of my client’s businesses and when their commercial interests should rank above a strict, legal interpretation of their position. This is a skill I find many lawyers lack. As a young business leader, I have had to learn many of the skills needed as I have developed the practice. I have learnt a lot of lessons along the way and I draw on those lessons to ensure the practice grows from strength to strength.” “Whilst I have been given a lot of support by my team, I am also very lucky in that I come from a family of business owners, with many family members having embarked on establishing a variety of businesses ranging from construction, removals, PR, graphic design, childcare and clothing. I have used this network for support and advice along the way and have been fortunate to be able to steer Costigan King to continued success over the years.” With extensive industry experience, Arianne understands the challenges faced by women looking to succeed in the legal profession. She outlines the difficulties the industry offers and explores how it can improve and become more inclusive in the future. “Since I entered the legal profession, there has been visible improvements in the culture and how women are treated within the profession, as well as better responses when behaviours are not as they should be. I have experienced and witnessed some terrible behaviour towards women throughout my career, particularly when I E was more junior. I think those people that have those views will, to some extent, always have them. However, they may not get away with expressing those views as openly as they once could and, if they do, there are far more likely to be repercussions. In our firm, there is significant female leadership, with two of the three directors and shareholders being female. This sends a clear message and will help towards driving change in our market. “To this day, one of the key problems facing women in the profession remains progression. There is an expressed concern with women of a certain age needing maternity leave and women often being primarily responsible for childcare, which, as a business owner, I can understand. The difficulty is in getting appropriate cover for a temporary period, particularly with more senior staff. It can also be difficult to accommodate restricted hours to cater for childcare needs. This is an extremely challenging situation to manage, as both sides of the argument are equally valid. In that sense, I think the sacrifices men make with regards to missing out time with their children are ignored and people should be rewarded based on their contribution. “I think the answer is the evolution of technology alongside an acceptance of flexible working. These steps are hugely positive and will help families manage childcare without making as many career related sacrifices. The legal industry has been slower than most in adopting tech-friendly and flexible working environments. At Costigan King, we fully support a modern working environment, to help people progress based on their contribution (irrespective of gender) and regardless of their personal circumstances. “As to any mistreatment of women in the workplace, one point that is so regularly ignored is that it isn’t a female versus male divide and most men do not share the views that few do and, as such, often tarnish men as a whole or brand a firm as an ‘old boys’ club’. This is wrong. I have had a tremendous amount of support from some incredible men throughout my career. What needs to happen is a change in attitude for all involved. Women need to be able to speak up and feel safe using their voices and men need to support them in order to achieve genuine change that is better for everyone.” As she discusses the future, Arianne is keen to explain her ongoing dedication to driving Costigan King to even greater success in the highly competitive global legal market. “I am driven to establish Costigan King as a globally recognised brand and expand the firm further internationally, so that we can support many more clients over the coming years. Given the state of the current economic climate, organic growth is the future for my firm. We are keen to grow a firm that incorporates modern working practices to enable as much flexibility as possible for the team, as well as empower women to reach the peak of their career in my organisation and in the wider legal market. All of these combined goals will keep me busy and help me to drive beneficial change for everyone.” Company: Costigan King | Name: Arianne King Web Address: www.costiganking.com