Ben Perry, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, discusses what it’s like to work on some of the world’s largest deals and shares his advice for students on developing commercial awareness
As a veteran dealmaker who joined Sullivan & Cromwell’s London office when it was just launching its English law practice, Ben Perry has seen the practice expand into a hub of high-end cross-border work across M&A and other key areas. As one of S&C’s first English-qualified lawyers, Ben seized an opportunity he “simply wasn’t going to get anywhere else”. Now a senior partner in the M&A group, he has led on headline-grabbing deals and established, and continues to oversee, S&C’s trainee programme.
“I’m one of those people who knew from my mid-teens that I was interested in becoming a lawyer,” he tells me. During his school years, Ben spent a week on work experience at a regional law firm and was fortunate to have a front-row seat at a corporate closing. “I was lucky enough to be taken to a closing meeting for an M&A transaction early on,” he recalls. This was back in the days when in-person closings were the norm, and the atmosphere clearly left a mark. “I saw firsthand the sense of satisfaction that a successful transaction generated for everyone involved — and the fact that champagne was being served at 11:00 a.m. also helped!” he laughs. He went on to study law at university and set his sights on becoming a solicitor working on deals.
Fast-forward to today, and cross-border M&A transactions have become the cornerstone of Ben’s practice. He considers himself fortunate to have started his career at a time when international deals were becoming more frequent: “I trained and qualified at a time when those opportunities to do cross-border work were becoming much more common. Throughout my career, that’s always been part of what I’ve done.” What does he enjoy most about these complex multi-jurisdictional deals? “In terms of what I like about it, I think it comes down to what the job involves as an M&A lawyer, and at its core that’s about solving problems and finding solutions,” he says. Cross-border transactions provide “a great opportunity to deploy those skills of problem solving and solution finding” because often you must reconcile different market practices or even contradictory legal requirements across countries.
He also highlights the collaborative aspect of cross-border work. Sullivan & Cromwell’s global reach means working closely with colleagues in the US, Europe and beyond. The firm’s different offices “really operate as one”, and that level of teamwork and cooperation across borders is something he found impressive from the start. “One of the best aspects of working at S&C,” he notes, “is that we’re working together as a single team”, enabling lawyers to advise clients seamlessly on international deals.
Our discussion shifts to the wider market environment that aspiring commercial lawyers are keen to understand. Despite recent uncertainty, Ben observes that many companies are surprisingly proactive right now. While in the past events like the 2008 financial crisis or the 2016 EU referendum he often saw businesses adopt a “wait and see” approach, today he’s noticed something different. Many companies are “using it as an opportunity to re-evaluate their assets and their strategic priorities.” As for lawyers, it means their expertise is especially valued. “These are always times when it’s good to be a lawyer,” he points out.
However, in such times, he says, a law firm can’t be passive. “You’re always proactive anyway as a law firm,” he remarks. It’s about maintaining a “constant dialogue.” For example, if a corporate client has been reassessing its portfolio, the team considers whether that might lead them to divest a division or make a strategic acquisition. By knowing the client’s strategic priorities, the lawyer can be ready to help execute those decisions when the time comes.
Another trend he identifies is the rise of creative deal structures. When I ask about shifts in how deals are structured, Ben says a lot of innovation is happening to bridge gaps and manage risk. “Those creative structures can be used either where there’s a valuation gap — say, a seller wants more than a buyer is willing to pay — or to allocate risks in particular transactions,” he explains. Deals today often include features that were less common a few years ago. “Whereas100% of a company might previously have been sold, now you have far more deals where there’s a minority stake being sold instead,” he tells me. Such arrangements can inject new capital or expertise while allowing original owners to retain partial ownership while realising part of their investment. Ben notes, “We see many more transactions like that now.”
No conversation about the future of the legal market would be complete without touching on technology and regulation. But how are clients balancing a drive for innovation — particularly the rise of artificial intelligence — with increasing regulatory and antitrust scrutiny, especially on cross-border deals. Ben is quick to highlight that any major transaction today is likely to attract attention from multiple regulators. “Ultimately, any cross-border transaction is frequently going to be subject to scrutiny from different types of regulators who may get involved,” he says. There’s antitrust enforcement, of course, but also newer regimes like foreign investment controls (which, he notes, “really didn’t exist before, certainly not in the UK or Western Europe”) and even a relatively new EU regulation on foreign subsidies. “Last but not least, you also have sectoral regulators,” he adds, depending on the industry. “You could have any or potentially all of those looking at just a single deal,” Ben points out. To navigate this, lawyers must collaborate across practice areas and borders. A key part of their approach is engaging proactively with regulators and making the strongest case for the benefits of a deal. By putting forward convincing arguments for why a transaction will be positive for relevant stakeholders, lawyers can help ease the path through regulatory hurdles.
So what about AI itself? To round off our discussion, I ask Ben what commercial trend he believes will dominate in 2025–2026 that law students should keep a close eye on. “I’m going to give a fairly obvious answer, but not perhaps in the way that you would expect,” he replies. “You only have to look at any newspaper and say it’s AI.” But he isn’t referring to AI as a buzzword in isolation — he means the investment boom around AI. Massive amounts of capital are being poured into developing AI technologies, and this has knock-on effects for dealmakers. It’s also about what companies need to do to fund those investments, he explains, which often means selling off other assets. “All of that helps to drive M&A activity across a range of sectors, not just the AI space,” he says. By way of example, he notes that the surge in AI is fuelling demand in areas like data centres and broader digital infrastructure — the critical backbone of the tech revolution, and an area where S&C advises clients. “Ultimately, it’s AI and the technology underlying AI that is creating all of that demand and activity, and I think that’s only going to get more significant,” Ben predicts.
Shifting gears, I ask about Sullivan & Cromwell itself — what drew him to the firm. Ben joined S&C’s London office 25 years ago, at what he describes as “a really exciting time.” As one of the firm’s first English-qualified lawyers, the prospect of helping build out a new practice and getting opportunities “that he simply wasn’t going to get anywhere else” was irresistible.
One hallmark of S&C’s culture he emphasises is the broad training and flexibility given to junior lawyers. “One of the best things about being a trainee here, in my view, is we do not force people to choose between narrowly specialized areas of transactional practice at the point of qualification,” Ben explains. One aspect of S&C’s unique offering is allowing its newly qualified associates to join the firm’s General Practice group. That means they can work on a variety of deals across different practice areas in their early years, making for what he believes are more well-rounded lawyers.
Even as the London office has expanded in scope, it has maintained a “highly integrated” ethos. He characterises the culture as “supportive, friendly and inclusive.” In practical terms, this means a trainee in London “will get to know and be known by everyone at the office, regardless of practice area or level of seniority,” he says. That sense of being part of a close-knit community was something that struck him when he first joined. For students considering their career options, he suggests that this genuinely collegial environment is a major draw.
Having been involved in training and development of junior lawyers and trainees for his entire time as a partner, Ben has plenty of advice for those hoping to enter the profession. “I don’t think there’s any one single thing — it is actually a range of qualities,” he responds. On the technical side, he looks for “intellectual curiosity, the ability to grasp complex concepts quickly, analytical skills, and the ability to distil information and identify the key points.”
But technical skills alone aren’t enough. Particularly in a smaller (albeit growing) trainee intake like S&C’s, personal initiative and drive make a big difference. Ben values individuals who are self-motivated and “take ownership of the matters they’re working on and are self-starters”. Last — and “definitely not least,” he stresses — the importance of teamwork and communication cannot be overstated. Being able to collaborate effectively in a team and having excellent written and verbal communication skills is essential for a successful lawyer. “Those are the sorts of things that we’re looking for, and it is important to be well-rounded in that way,” he advises.
Given how often law students hear about the need for “commercial awareness,” I’m keen to pin him down on what that buzzword really means in practice. Ben boils it down to two main aspects. First, it’s about showing a “genuine interest in the underlying subject matter” and a true curiosity about business, markets and the context in which law operates. Second, it comes down to preparation: demonstrating that “you’ve done your homework on it.” No one expects a candidate for a training contract to go toe to toe with a qualified lawyer. However, they do expect you to be thoroughly prepared and to be ready to discuss key issues affecting the firm and its clients. “Candidates should have done their homework to be able to discuss the key areas relevant to the firms that they’re applying to,” he says. That last part is crucial — it’s about understanding what’s relevant to that firm, not just having a generic view of the legal industry. Ben encourages students to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and instead dig into each firm’s focus areas and recent deals.
Before we wrap up, Ben offers some advice for the next generation of commercial lawyers. His advice is simple: stay curious about the business world and keep an eye on how technology is reshaping it. As his observation about AI driving M&A activity highlights, the legal profession doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it’s intertwined with wider commercial and technological developments. For students and aspiring solicitors, the takeaway is clear. Develop your technical skills and your teamwork, yes, but also cultivate that broad commercial curiosity.
Ben Perry will be speaking at ‘Inside M&A: How regulation impacts global deals — with Sullivan & Cromwell’, a virtual student event taking place on MONDAY (24 November). APPLY NOW.
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