Colleague stories: Alastair Smith

What makes a good corporate lawyer: Alastair’s tips

Alastair Smith is a Partner within our Corporate and Commercial team, having joined Lindsays as a trainee. He advises clients on investments, data protection, contracts, technology and intellectual property matters.

How I started in Corporate Law

I started my traineeship with Lindsays in 2005. In those days, the Edinburgh office was in an old-fashioned townhouse, and in my first day as a trainee, I was put in a small attic room with a Partner.

After qualifying, I joined the Corporate department. There was a focus on the technology and investment side of corporate law, and both the work and the people in the team were interesting.

Reasons for staying

Law is a lot about the relationships you form with clients and colleagues. It’s about getting to know and trust them, and we do that well at Lindsays and in my team.

I also like the nature of our work and the clients, who come in all shapes and sizes - from two-people start-ups to businesses with several hundred employees.

What has changed

The nature of the work and the business landscape have certainly changed, though we’ve always worked with technology clients. We still get some clients from 20 years ago, but most are working in different areas or on different projects.

That’s one of the good things about working in corporate law, it doesn’t stand still.

My own career has also developed as different opportunities have arisen. A good example is the video game side of it, which I now do a fair amount of work on, including through my mentorship work with the Dare Academy programme at the University of Abertay. That's something that’s grown relatively recently.

What makes a good corporate lawyer?

In my area, it’s getting to know the clients from the personal perspective and also understanding their specific area of technology. You want to know what matters to them before they even tell you!

That all requires an inquisitive nature, and I think of myself as someone who has that quality. I like finding out about different businesses and angles and applying the law to that particular business, technology or device, in a way that also makes commercial sense.

The social side of Lindsays

Our social and charity activities are great when you're starting out, as a way to get to know people. When I did my traineeship, there were five of us and I’m still in touch with three of them.

And I’ve continued to do some social and charity activities, such as cycling. It’s a great way to meet colleagues in person, put names to faces and places, and have longer conversations than you usually would.

Advice for trainees

Be inquisitive. And build connections with people both internally and externally, because this is ultimately where your next piece of work will come from. Doing the legal stuff well is essential, but so are the relationships and commercial awareness you develop.