When Alec Johnson was offered a job at the Firm in 2009 it didn’t take long for him to consider his options.

“White & Case was simply a great fit for me,” he says. “The fact the Firm is so genuinely international really appealed to me.”

Having spent a year as a summer associate in New York, Alec accepted a permanent position but, due to the financial crisis, his start date was deferred for a year. In the meantime, the Firm offered him financial support, so he could do pro bono work.

He explains: “I decided to head off to South Africa and Kenya, where I helped a non-profit news aggregation service, www.allafrica.com, that I had worked for prior to becoming a lawyer.

“The life and work skills I learnt during that year have been invaluable to my career since and, without them, it would have been harder to hit the ground running as a lawyer.

“I think it also highlighted the fact that the Firm values the development of its people, not only in terms of legal skills, but also their ethics and values.”

Alec’s time in Africa also proved valuable for other reasons – he met his future wife, Livia, while in Nairobi. And, when Alec returned to New York to start his career with White & Case, Livia soon joined him.

Alec says: “For me, the New York office was a perfect place to start because there is a lot of support on offer and you get to meet and learn from so many great people.

“The first year is about trying out all different practice areas, but project finance was always of particular interest to me and a natural choice.

“Working in New York also gave me the chance to work with top clients and on high-profile matters, including the Freeport LNG deal, which at the time was the largest fully non-recourse project financing ever. I’ll always remember when the financing on the first two trains closed, because it was three days before the birth of my daughter, Aurelia.”

Ready for his next challenge, in 2015, Alec accepted a two-year secondment in the Firm’s London office.

He explains: “London (like New York) is such a great place to learn and has the added benefit of being a gateway and hub for financings throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“I love that my career to date has given me the opportunity to move around, working with different practice groups, offices and clients on a wide variety of transactions.

“One of the highlights was working on the Nacala rail and port project in Mozambique and Malawi.

“This was the most complex transaction I’ve ever worked on, and my role involved helping develop and negotiate a complicated network of guarantees from the sponsors aimed at addressing a number of discrete project risks.”

It was while working on a matter for Saudi Aramco that Alec was asked if he’d consider taking a secondment role at the Firm’s partner office, The Law Firm of AlSalloum and AlToaimi, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He says: “Moving here has really taken my personal development to the next level.

“It’s an office of around 30 lawyers, so much smaller than I was used to, but it means you know everyone and the team is very close knit as a result.

“Being in a small office also means you naturally take on more responsibility, high-level client contact and involvement in business development. Plus, the office is full of young enthusiastic lawyers, so I’m really focused on mentoring and training.”

Since moving to Riyadh in 2017, Alec has worked on a variety of matters, most recently the Farabi Petrochemicals project in Yanbu.

“The support from White & Case has been fantastic and I don’t think any other firm would have offered me the same kind of opportunities for mobility and scope to learn and take charge of my own career path. I’m excited for the future.”

He says: “It’s been a great experience working with a team that spans multiple offices in the Middle East and London, and the transaction has been a great learning experience for a number of the junior lawyers in Riyadh who have never worked on a project financing before.”

Alec describes living and working in Saudi Arabia as a unique and enjoyable experience.

He explains: “It’s just so different, and the country is changing so quickly. Women can now drive, there are movie theatres and music in restaurants, not to mention the economic reforms that are being implemented, which are truly transformational. It’s a really exciting time to be here.

“The decision to move here was not an easy one for my family and particularly my wife, who had been working for Amnesty International in London and knew she’d have to take a career break when we moved to Saudi Arabia.

“So we did a lot of due diligence, asking families what it was like and what we could expect, and decided to give it a try.

“The support from White & Case has been fantastic and I don’t think any other firm would have offered me the same kind of opportunities for mobility and the scope to learn and take charge of my own career path. I’m excited for the future.”