‘In my view, a private equity firm is one of the most interesting places to work as an in-house lawyer.’ Cinven GC Babett Carrier on food, family, hobbies and private equity.
I come from a family of lawyers. My father was a lawyer, my uncle was a judge, so there was maybe some bias. What I like about the law is that it is very analytical and it rewards logic. You are trained to analyse any issues in a systematic way.
I studied law in Germany, starting at the age of 19, but was not clear at that time where I wanted to end up. I liked how many options legal studies offered. Part of becoming a lawyer in Germany involved the equivalent of a traineeship in the UK. I clerked with a judge and worked in various other legal sectors, such as the prosecutor’s office, public administration and private practice at Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann at the time, now Freshfields. These were all very valuable experiences and I quite enjoyed pleading my small cases as a prosecutor in my black robe in front of the court.
The more I practised, the more I realised how much I liked the business side of the law and the international nature of M&A and finance. I always dreamt of working abroad, so I went to study at Columbia Law School in New York. I ultimately stayed to work at Shearman & Sterling in the US and subsequently the UK before moving in-house.
I could see myself working as an interior designer. I love to work with colours and fabrics and to create beautiful living spaces with a positive ambiance. It is a nice creative counter-balance to the life of a lawyer.
The change in my career from private practice to in-house happened more by accident than design. I was approached for the role of general counsel at Arma Partners, an international financial advisory firm, to build its legal function. But I am an M&A lawyer at heart and when the opportunity at Cinven presented itself, I did not hesitate.
I wanted to go in-house to be part of, and contribute to, the success of a business. In private practice, you work on many interesting deals, but it is more transactional in nature. In private equity, making the investment is just the beginning; you then work closely with your portfolio companies over a number of years. I enjoy learning and have learned so much about our portfolio companies that operate in many different sectors and countries.
In my view, a private equity firm is one of the most interesting places to work as an in-house lawyer. It is fast paced, intellectually stimulating, incredibly varied and you are working with very smart people that keep you on your toes. It is the variety of the role and the ability to contribute to the success of a business that motivates me every day.
Every one of the deals I am involved in is interesting and stimulating in its own way, so it is hard to pick one. The more complex, the better. A few years back, we were working on a very complex carve-out transaction, buying a business from Bayer, a German Strategic. The negotiations were old school – in-person – and we all flew to Germany for the meetings. We ended up sitting in the BayArena, a football stadium, overlooking the pitch while negotiating the terms of the deal for days in a row. It was a real team effort and we had a great sense of accomplishment when the deal was signed. I most enjoy the deals where we work as one team across many functions.
I would describe my management style as inclusive and fair; I always try to keep my sense of humour even under pressure and I never take myself too seriously. At team discussions, we often ask the more junior team members to speak first. It is also important to me that everyone in the team has an opportunity to grow and evolve, take on more responsibilities over time and increase their own visibility across the firm. As part of empowering my team, I had to learn how to delegate – not something that comes easily to me. Like many lawyers, I am very detail-oriented and like to be involved in everything. But I had to recognise that this is not possible in a growing firm and not necessary.
I am very demanding of myself and my team. We work in a fast-paced and demanding industry and are the trusted advisers to our business teams. We need to be responsive, commercial, and always deliver high-quality work. At the same time, it is important to create an atmosphere where having a work/life balance is valued. I want well-rounded people in my team who understand the importance of both the personal and the professional.
A large part of my role as general counsel is helping my firm to identify, calibrate and manage risk. You have to ensure risks are properly understood by the business and decisions are made on an informed basis. It is an absolute imperative to have a thorough understanding of the business you are working in, its strategy and priorities.
As an in-house lawyer, we are in a unique position to help connect the dots. We are involved in the entire process and all the internal discussions, often much before external counsel is engaged. We see every deal, every fundraise. We can help identify issues early that may not be visible from the outside and pull in the required external resources to solve them. That is where we can add real value.
The role of an in-house lawyer has changed a lot even in the last few years. In-house teams had to adapt to unpredictable times and events – Ukraine, Gaza, Brexit, Covid, sanctions, supply chain issues, rising interest rates to name just a few. These are novel, adaptive issues, without a clear-cut answer. To address them, it is important to have good governance and information flow across the relevant functions to make sure decisions are made involving the right people at the right level.
To a certain extent, you have more control over your hours when you are in-house, but that is only partially true. You are still working in an M&A environment that is very demanding. In private practice, you work on one or two deals and you are on all of the details. As an in-house lawyer, you may work on four to five different transactions, plus a number of other projects. You need to be able to jump from one project to the next and identify quickly the material issues you need to focus on. You work incredibly hard, but you do always have that fallback of external counsel. It’s demanding in a different way. In private practice, you have your institutional clients, but in-house, you have 200 internal clients who need the assistance of the legal team.
In private practice, there is a well-trodden career path. You do well as an associate, you can become a senior associate; you can become a partner. That is not to say that the path to partnership in private practice is easy but the path is sketched out for you. It is quite different for an in-house lawyer. The career trajectory is not as clear cut, but you get career progression by taking on new responsibilities or with new roles being carved out as the business grows. The role of the GC and the legal function has also changed over the last couple of years, reflecting the fact that the private equity industry is becoming more institutionalised and regulated. The GC role is more and more a trusted adviser role and there is a recognition that the GC needs to have a seat at the table.
In my free time, I love exercising as a counterbalance to the day in the office. I walk, run, cycle and play tennis. Whatever keeps me active. I am also a passionate diver and a passionate skier. Growing up in Germany, I started skiing when I was three years old. I also like travel, reading, theatre, museums and good food and wine, but I would not go as far as calling myself a good cook. I don’t have the time or the talent. There are so many great restaurants in London now. We’re all foodies in my team, and we collectively keep a best-of list which is ever-expanding. Again, if only I had more time!
I never really had one guiding star throughout my career, but I have met many impressive female lawyers who have supported me throughout my career or who I have tried to support. Having studied at Columbia Law School, however, I couldn’t not mention Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has done so much for women across her impressive career and was such a role model. Her daughter Jane Ginsburg was a law professor when I was studying at Columbia and a terrific role mode in her own right.
A lot of people may say this, but my family is my greatest achievement. I have two daughters who are in college right now. They are both wonderful, strong young women with the right values. They are determined and are forging their own paths; they know what they want and pursue it with tenacity. To see my children grow up and become good people with a strong sense of who they are, has made me very proud.