During the past 12 months, numerous colleagues have completed secondments with our clients across the globe. It’s an eye opening statistic, but what it doesn’t show is the huge value that secondments bring to our clients and the Firm.

In fact, secondments are a critical factor in turning us from a supplier into a trusted partner of choice. And they are also a priceless chance to showcase our expertise and to get under the skin of our clients’ business.

Standard Chartered is a case in point. We currently have two associates on secondment with them, with Nikita Thakrar based in the client’s London office and William Watson on secondment in Dubai.

Nikita’s story

Associate Nikita Thakrar has been working in the Capital Markets team in the Firm’s London office since 2015.

She explains: “I put myself forward for a secondment because I thought it would be useful in terms of my personal development while also building my knowledge of a key client. I’d worked with the Standard Chartered team on a few transactions, so when the opportunity came up to work as in-house counsel it really appealed.”

Nikita started her secondment in September, joining the Debt Capital Markets (DCM) legal team.

She says: “One of the first things that surprised me was the volume of work the internal legal team does on a transaction before external counsel are approached and appointed.

“The team gets involved from the initial stages of discussions with prospective clients and, once external counsel is appointed, works with them to review the various documents and check they comply with the bank’s internal policies.”

Now around a third of the way through her six-month secondment, Nikita is relishing the chance to learn and develop.

She says: “I’ve learnt a lot about how Standard Chartered’s legal and business teams fit together and who has responsibility for each decision. It’s also been really useful to find out the bank’s key drivers and what it really cares about when working with external counsel.

From seeing things from their perspective, I hope I can build up a picture of how we can provide them with a better service and identify areas we could help them where we don’t already.”

Working in Standard Chartered’s London office means Nikita’s secondment hasn’t taken her far from home, but the global nature of the bank’s business has meant working with people from several different time zones, including Dubai, the Americas and Asia. She’s also had to adapt to hot-desking and working in an open-plan office.

She says: “I’m really enjoying my time here and it’s been great to build relationships with key people in the legal and DCM teams. I’ve also got a much better idea of how an investment bank works, which will be invaluable when I go back to the Firm.

“During my time here I’ve already organized a couple of events to promote closer relationships between my colleagues at White & Case and the Standard Chartered team, including a drinks reception in the run-up to Christmas.

“I think secondments like this are a win-win. The client benefits from having an extra resource in a small team, which I’m told makes a big difference.

“I also look for opportunities where we can share ‘know-how’ resources that might be useful, for example client alerts, training sessions, and arranging for members of the Standard Chartered team to speak to various partners within the group. This allows us to show them the depth of our knowledge and gives us the opportunity to build relationships, which hopefully can lead to more work going forward.

“Of course, it’s also been great for me and I’d definitely consider doing another one, perhaps a little further from home next time!”

William’s story

Associate William Watson has been working as part of Standard Chartered’s team in Dubai since July.

He took the secondment shortly after transferring to the Firm’s Dubai office following two years in our London office.

Adapting to life in Dubai (and Standard Chartered) hasn’t been hard though – William worked in Dubai from 2012 to 2015, during which period he spent time on secondment with Standard Chartered.

William says: “Working here previously has obviously eased my learning curve and it helps that I know the majority of the team already, but at the same time this secondment feels quite different because I’m more experienced, so I’m given more exposure to people in higher positions.”

Dubai is an important office for Standard Chartered, reflecting their strong presence in emerging markets.

William says: “The scope of work I’m doing here is wider than I’d usually cover and there is a lot of interaction with the bank’s business teams.

“We serve as an external counsel and point of contact for people across the business, so there are also lots of ad hoc queries.

“The Firm takes secondments really seriously, so I’m also in contact with the team virtually every day, especially because the bank is an important client with a dedicated business development team.”

Our growing relationship with Standard Chartered went up a level earlier this year when we were added to their global panel of law firms and the location of William’s secondment is particularly helpful, given Dubai’s close involvement with the bank’s many offices around the globe.

William says: “For instance I recently had awareness of a project involving the Hong Kong office that I knew I was never going to be involved in, but I was still able to touch base with the relevant Standard Chartered team in Hong Kong to get an idea of what they were expecting in terms of costs and approach, so I could pass those details on to our Hong Kong colleagues.

“At the same time I was able to let the deal team know why the Firm would be a good match for them and the transaction, which always helps.”

Getting this kind of relationship edge in a highly competitive market is another benefit of secondments, as William explains.

“Being on their global panel is a big step forward, but it still means we are competing against around 14 other top class law firms. That sort of competition means it’s always handy to have someone on the ground, not only for the Dubai office, but globally.

“Knowing what’s important to the client, their strategic priorities, what’s going on in their markets – it’s really beneficial.

“From a personal development perspective, you’d be hard pressed to find a senior associate or a partner who hasn’t done a secondment, because they give you an invaluable understanding of how our clients operate.”

William’s previous spell in Dubai has made adapting to life in the region easy.

He says: “My wife and I are Australian, so Dubai is actually closer to home than London. The White & Case team did all the ground work for the move so that’s been very smooth, plus we already have a good network of friends here.

“Dubai is a great place to live – a wonderful climate in the winter, albeit way too hot in summer – and the expat community is huge here, so there is no real culture shock.

“There’s also plenty to do in your spare time and one of our friends owns a sandboarding company, so that’s a lot of fun.”