“Having a professional profile opens the door as a lawyer. It is not enough on its own”

My path to law

It's not uncommon for Caribbean parents to want their children to either be lawyers, doctors or engineers.

I was no good at physics, so landing on the law was somewhat accidental. I have since really come to love what I do.

Tax is a very technical, evolving area of law that has such an impact on everything and everyone.

Tax is as relevant today as centuries ago, from both a financial and political perspective.

Building your foundation

I didn't think about building my personal profile very early on in my career.

And if I'm completely honest, it's not something I think about actively today.

I’ve always thought about relationship building and supporting others. I would like to think I'm a fairly social person.

I like meeting new people. There's so much to be learned from others.

I was one of those junior tax lawyers who very much had his head in the yellow and orange books.

I kept my head down for the first few years as an associate and tried to produce really good work. I still do so today.

Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world. Tax law fascinates me.

If I had to advise a junior tax lawyer where to put their efforts early on, it wouldn’t be to prioritise building their professional profile (at least not at the expense of building the technical knowledge you’ll need to sustain a long-term career as a tax practitioner).

Get the technical expertise right and nurture your relationships – and have those as your foundation.

There's little point in having a public profile which attracts internal and external clients to you for your technical input if you don’t have anything of substance to add. They will quickly realise this.

Build your technical knowledge – this is as relevant at the start of your career as later on – so when you do finally lift your head out of your yellow and orange books, you’ll have something of substance to contribute.

I appreciate that, in a world of instant gratification, this is not a ‘sexy’ take.

It is a disservice to aspiring lawyers if we don’t tell them this sector can be challenging and that there's a lot of work.

If you're not passionate about the area of law you're in, you’ll quickly burn out.

Connecting with your audience

Building your profile will work in parallel with continuously developing your expertise.

When it comes to my specialism – UK, Caribbean and international tax law – I want potential clients and my existing clients to know about it.

So I ask myself, ‘Where are my potential clients? Where are their eyeballs?’ That question is what would drive how I would choose to build a profile.

Building a profile is not a scattergun exercise. It needs to be systematic.

Are my potential clients on LinkedIn? Possibly. It will differ from lawyer to lawyer.

Where will I get the best bang for my buck in terms of demonstrating my expertise while playing to my strengths?

I take pride in making my client and internal training sessions engaging. I’ve been told I am relatively good at presentations and client trainings.

Once, the general counsel (GC) of one of the firm’s larger financial institution clients even wrote to the managing partner to note how engaging my training session with his team of lawyers was, and to express his gratitude.

As such, I’ll think about profile-building opportunities which play to my strengths – be they writing for tax publications, presenting client training or at tax-specific conferences.

Have a think about where your strengths lie. What would work best for you?

Amplifying issues you care about

As professionals, we are multi-faceted. Beyond our specialisms, there are other things we care about that affect the profession.

I didn't get involved with pursuing my passions and interests in law, and across business more widely, until I had completed the training contract and integrated well into the tax team.

I'm interested in the learning and development of junior lawyers, and ensuring there is equality of opportunity for those aspiring to enter the profession.

I want to ensure those from under-represented backgrounds, who may not have had an opportunity to become a lawyer, know what is required and expected of them to excel and have the tools to do so.

In 2021, I established a desk at Linklaters that focuses on business opportunities in the Caribbean. It involved making the business case and getting internal buy-in from senior leaders in the firm.

One project I’m particularly proud of is our virtual paid internship programme for students and recent law graduates in the Caribbean, so they understand how an international law firm works.

We are mindful of the dangers of ‘brain drain’ on developing regions – it’s not a recruitment drive.

Instead, this is an opportunity for our lawyers to connect with local lawyers and form meaningful connections as they go into practice.

The feedback has been great. We even won an award in 2024 from the Society of Caribbean Lawyers for the programme.

Making an impact

Once I’ve established the issues that are important to me, I then might think: who are the people that I want to share these with, and show this facet of myself to?

I use social media as a tool to promote the issues rather than myself. My posts are constructed around things I want to see more of.

For example, I think that there is a need for those in the Caribbean and developing countries to have their voices heard, in any sort of discussion around international tax policy reforms.

It is an important way to get certain messages out there. I’d hope posting about Linklaters’ virtual internship would encourage more businesses to consider how they can make use of technology to find and develop the best talent in a global talent pool.

Like any tool, social media must be used for a specific purpose. In my case, it’s to amplify messages that aren't necessarily geared towards growing my practice.

I'm very mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of online professional platforms for business development.

Nurturing relationships

It’s ironic that the junior lawyers reading this might be looking for advice on how to build a professional profile – and my message is not to start there!

However, there's so much that could be said on the importance of relationships: it could be an entirely separate article. In this business, people buy from people.

I think there's a misconception that having a public profile is the same as relationship-building.

Those are two separate things.

Having a professional profile opens the door. It is not enough on its own.

It may get you a seat at the table, a speaking opportunity at a conference, or to pitch for a client.

However, it doesn’t guarantee that you will get the piece of work, if that's what you're after.

The profile itself is of limited value. For me, if anything, it’s sometimes a conduit to building a relationship, showcasing my expertise with a view to securing opportunities.

My final takeaway? Don’t lose yourself

It’s important to distinguish between what you do as a profession and who you are as a person.

There are so many things that make me, in addition to what I do for a living.

Being alive to that – not mistaking your identity for your job – will help you sustain your interests and relationships outside of work, too.