Future industry stars at Oxford University business school get Shoosmiths advice

Potential future stars of investment banking, private equity and asset management have been put through their paces on how to think about important transactional legal documents thanks to two lawyers from Shoosmiths.

Legal consultant Maurice Dwyer and senior associate Al Hammerton were invited to give a presentation as part of the corporate finance course run by the Finance Lab of the Saïd Business School at Oxford University. The Finance Lab course, which has an extremely rigorous selection process, is available to Oxford University MBA, MSc financial economics and MSc law and finance students - some of the most elite post graduate students from around the world.

Maurice and Al, the first lawyers to be invited by Finance Lab director John Gilligan to present on the course programme, produced an interactive presentation to demonstrate to the students the importance of thinking innovatively and not taking legal documents and their underlying assumptions at face value.

Maurice said: "It's a great honour to be invited to speak in such a prestigious learning environment with incredibly passionate and bright minds. Rather than just lecture to them though, it was a chance to pick the students' brains and challenge them on how they should approach the legal and wider processes involved in corporate finance transactions.

"For Al and myself, it was actually a really fun afternoon and a chance to speak to some of the youngest and brightest talent from around the world who are sure to make a mark on the sectors in which we work every day. We wish the students all the best in their chosen future careers."

John Gilligan, director of the Oxford Finance Saïd Lab, said: "I'm grateful to the Shoosmiths guys for giving up their time to be with us. Their session was the first one on this year's programme and was, as intended, an innovative introduction for the members of the lab to the importance of always questioning and thinking outside the box."