Ankita Sahadev

Departments to date: N/A
University: Durham University
Degree: Philosophy and Psychology, First Class Honours

9.15am: I arrive at the office and as a first port of call, I head to our coffee point. The coffee point is a prime social hub in the office and so it’s a useful place catch up with some colleagues. Upon returning to my desk, I review the daily property news updates which help us all stay up to date with the key deals in the property industry. I then begin to prepare today’s to do list.

9.30am: I have been negotiating a lease acting for the landlord and that lease is now in agreed form. The senior associate that is supervising me on this matter has finished her pre-engrossment check of the documents and has sent me a couple of final points check with the tenant’s solicitor before engrossing the documents. I ask the tenant’s solicitor for confirmation on these points and then update the client on the status of the matter. I also then prepare a brief report on the lease in preparation for completion.

11am:  I am assisting on the refinancing of a shopping centre. On financing deals, the pace often picks up the closer we get to completion, so there are certainly more time sensitive tasks on this matter now as we approach completion. This morning, I was helping to finalise some of the few outstanding conditions precedent on the property side. I also drafted a questionnaire for the client which asks for their confirmation on various key parts.

12.45pm: I headed for a quick lunchtime walk around the City. I try and step out for a walk every lunchtime to improve my steps goal. We are very lucky to be such a short walk away from St Paul’s, and it always makes for a lovely lunchtime walk.  I picked up lunch on my way back to the office.

1.15pm:  I ate my lunch with one of my colleagues. We had a good catch up on a personal level, but we also spoke about the firm Diwali lunch that we are helping to organise.

2:30pm: Since I joined the firm relatively recently, I have been asked to be part of another client team. This means that whenever a new instruction comes in for a client, there is a team of fee earners who are dedicated to working for the client, and know the client and their processes well. Therefore I had an introductory briefing with the client partner and senior associate who gave me the key background to the client and the asset. I then acquainted myself with the client’s data site where I could review some of their existing leases. I then set up the file and started drafting the lease based on the Heads of Terms.

6pm: I review the emails in my inbox to check that I have responded to everything that requires my attention for the day. I am heading to a dance class this evening in Holborn, so I get changed in the office before heading out!