Since joining the Firm in 2008, Jennifer Parks’ career has taken her from New York to her current role as Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong.

“White & Case has provided great opportunities for me,” she says. “I’ve learnt that, if you are proactive, work hard, and take responsibility for your development, anything is possible.”

Jennifer joined the New York office of the Firm in 2008, just prior to the unexpected collapse of Lehman Brothers, where she had been working in an internal strategy role. Before that, she had been a consultant at Accenture in their financial services practice and had received an MBA from Columbia Business School.

“Not long after Hugh Verrier had been elected Chair, he was looking for someone to implement the Firm’s new strategy, which had resulted from a wide-scale business review with management consultants, McKinsey,” says Jennifer. “I heard about the role through a friend, and it really appealed to me. I was attracted by how truly global the Firm was, as well as being impressed with Hugh’s vision for it.”

“I was attracted by how truly global the Firm was, as well as being impressed with Hugh’s vision for it.”

According to Jennifer, her appointment required a leap of faith on both sides.

“When I started, I didn’t have a title, job description or clear internal support. I quickly understood that in order to have access to opportunities at the Firm and pursue my potential, I first had to build trust and discern ways to add value.”

One of Jennifer’s first tasks was to assign every lawyer in the Firm a specific regional section and global practice; something that required a great amount of detective work. At that time, White & Case did not have a central HR system.

“It’s hard to imagine that challenge when you see the greatly improved systems we have today,” says Jennifer. “It took weeks of making phone calls around the globe to figure out who we had in the Firm and how to categorize them.”

In another initiative, Jennifer looked for blind spots in the Firm’s processes and functions, searching for solutions that would deliver significant improvements.

She says: “One example in my first year came with the creation of the Americas Regional Council for the new regional section heads. The Council needed direction as to what its role should be. So I spoke to all of the members individually to learn their priorities and to help them build a way to best work together – something that I believe has contributed to the leadership structure we have today.”

This proactive and creative approach also paid dividends when Jennifer applied for her current Hong Kong role in 2013.

“I liked the idea of working overseas along with the responsibility of running the Asia Pacific region from an operations perspective,” she explains. “I saw it as an exciting new challenge and asked to be put on the list of candidates.”

As part of her application process, Jennifer was interviewed by former Asia Regional Section Head, Barrye Wall – a meeting she approached with some trepidation.

“I wanted to explain that while the role was extremely attractive, I didn’t want my career to come at the expense of building a family. It was a relief when Barrye told me that it wasn’t an issue.

“Barrye was and is incredibly supportive of me both professionally and personally.”

Having secured the role, Jennifer relocated to Hong Kong with her husband Michael and daughter Avery. The family welcomed their son, Xander, the following year.

She says: “I had a very warm reception on my arrival in Hong Kong, but I remember one partner asking: ‘How much do you know about Asia?’.

“I had to admit that my only experience of Asia had been backpacking while I was in school! However, I learned quickly and was very grateful that the Firm had taken a leap of faith in me, just as I had by relocating my family to Hong Kong.”

“It’s an exciting role that has continued to keep me stimulated, because it’s so varied.”

Jennifer describes her job as COO of Asia Pacific as managing all matters related to the business side of the Firm in the region, from maintaining the real estate portfolio to working closely with leading lawyers on strategy and growth plans.

“I was fortunate to join the region at a really exciting time,” she says. “A year after I arrived, Eric Berg was appointed Head of Asia Pacific to build the region.

“Since I got here we’ve opened four new offices, expanding into Indonesia, South Korea and Australia. It’s an exciting role that has continued to keep me stimulated, because it’s so varied.

“If I have advice for anyone starting their career at the Firm, I would tell them to look around for opportunities to make a real difference for the business that other people may not be seeing.

“Make sure you work hard and appreciate the value of everyone you work with. Over time, you’ll find that productive working relationships develop into lasting friendships.

“I sincerely enjoy spending time with my friends across the Firm, and that’s something that motivates me to continue to give my all to everyone I work with.”