Associate Johanna Interian’s secondment at Deutsche Bank has been unusual, but inspiring.

She joined the client’s New York Capital Markets legal team in June and, due to lockdown regulations in the state, hasn’t met any of her colleagues face to face since starting.

Johanna explains: “There are only two lawyers in the Capital Markets legal team, Roseanne Kross and Ben Walker, so they’ve really welcomed the support.

“It’s been different, but we have regular calls, so I’ve felt part of the team.

“I already knew Roseanne from her time as an associate at the Firm in New York, but she left shortly after I joined in 2016, so it’s been great to finally get to work with her.”

White & Case has a long-standing relationship with Deutsche Bank and regularly places secondees with the client around the world.

Johanna’s secondment has continued this, while showing Deutsche Bank that we’re there for them in the midst of a global pandemic.

She says: “From my perspective, it’s been great to experience legal work from an in-house perspective and to get to know the client better.”

The biggest difference between Johanna’s work at the Firm and her time on secondment is the volume and types of deals she’s worked on.

She says: “Every deal the bank is named in has to be run past the legal team, so it’s not unusual to be staffed on 30 live deals at the same time.

“Juggling that volume of deals has been a challenge, but I’ve enjoyed it. Plus, it’s given me the chance to work on types of deals I’ve never worked on before and in new industry areas.

“It’s also been fascinating attending high level meetings getting to know the wider business, especially during such an unusual time for the economy.”

Completing a secondment during lockdown has posed its own challenges, but the Deutsche Bank team worked hard to help Johanna settle in quickly.

“They have secondees all the time,” she says, “so they’ve developed a comprehensive onboarding process and gave me access to everything I needed.

“We also stay in touch regularly, so I know help is at hand when I need it.”

This has included support from the White & Case team, and Johanna has monthly calls with Business Services colleagues to talk about the secondment.

She says: “Those meetings are a good chance to update them on how I’m doing and to give the team insights into the client that you can only get from working in-house.

“Going forward, I think this kind of learning can only be good for the Firm, because it’s reassuring for the client to know that we understand their business from the inside out.

“I’ve also got the chance to see other external counsel at work and I can see the frustrations the in-house team has when their legal assistance isn’t as responsive, reliable or seamless as they’d like.

“This only reinforces the importance the Firm puts on training its lawyers, because our culture sets us apart. It’s also made me particularly determined to make a good impression by responding quickly and doing the best job I possibly can.”

Johanna’s secondment ran until the end of 2019.

She says: “I really enjoyed my time at Deutsche Bank and would recommend a secondment to anyone. It’s been great for my personal development and helped me build a better understanding of the client that will help us provide an even better service in the future.”