“As I am writing this, there’s snow falling outside and the temp hasn’t gotten above 4 degrees all day!”

And with that, we meet Jaclyn – a three-times Best Lawyers-ranked M&A specialist who decamped from the big smoke to Tasmania in 2017.

If there’s a deal to be done, from a business sale to a regulated takeover, Jaclyn has your back, working remotely from the “end of the earth.”

1. What are you best at i.e. your sweet spot?

The majority of my practice is mergers and acquisitions - helping clients with buying, selling or investing in companies and businesses.

I have worked on deals ranging from large acquisitions for multi-national companies to family businesses looking to grow or exit, in a large variety of industries. I work on the whole cycle of corporate activity, from confidentiality agreements, due diligence, share/asset sales, capital raisings, joint venture and shareholder agreements, corporate governance, to exits via IPO or trade sale.

I also have particular expertise in regulated takeovers of ASX listed companies and smaller unlisted public companies.

2. Your transition from top-tier partner to sole practice in Hobart was quite an adventure?

Absolutely! In 2017 I left partnership in a big firm and travelled around Australia for a year in camper trailer with my family – about as far as possible from city office life! We came to Tasmania as part of our trip and loved it so much that we never left.

I often dealt with interstate and international clients in my former life in a law firm and so when I set up on my own, I didn’t see living at the end of the earth as a hurdle to continuing to provide the same level of service to corporate clients.

I sometimes find it remarkable that my lifestyle has changed so dramatically (for example, I don’t remember it ever snowing outside my window in Sydney!), but the nature of my work has changed very little.

3. What have been your favourite matters/clients since setting up for yourself?

I’ve been working recently with a small business which has been raising capital by way of a series of equity and convertible note issues. It’s been fantastic working with the team internally on corporate and commercial operational issues and getting to know the industry and business as they expand.

4. Are there any particular areas where a GC/CEO would be best placed to use you as a supplement (or in some cases an alternative) to using their large/panel firms?

Corporate transactions can take up a significant amount of time, on top of the day to day work of internal legal teams. I’ve found that having a corporate specialist assist on a transactional basis can be really valuable to scale up resources when needed.

5. I imagine you’ve been running largely a remote practice for ‘mainland’ clients even before COVID-19, has the crisis somewhat normalised this mode of work?

It’s been pretty much business as usual for me in terms of my working arrangements. I think the experience of having entire work forces work remotely and having systems in place to deal with this, may also show companies that they’re not necessarily limited to service providers based in their local area, and that there are cost effective options beyond the traditional law firm model.

6. Do you have any tips for lawyers considering a similar career pivot to sole practice?

Be prepared to be your own assistant, paralegal, finance department, IT help desk and business development manager. There’s an added layer of admin involved in running your own business on top of the legal work involved.

There is also fine balance between taking on enough work to ensure work flow in the future, and not taking on too much - which in a transactional practice with unpredictable workflows can sometimes be tricky.

That said, I’ve found the lifestyle benefits of being in control of your own practice far outweigh the challenges.

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Jaclyn is available now to assist you on corporate, M&A and regulated takeover matters – feel free to get in touch with us .