White & Case associate Jack Adachi on the international draw of global finance law and life on the deal
“I’ve always thought I would thrive in an international environment,” says Jack Adachi, associate in the capital markets team at White & Case. It’s not hard to see why. Growing up across cultures in Australia and Japan, his global outlook carried naturally into his legal career, and White & Case’s worldwide reach proved a fitting match for his ambitions.
During his training contract, he set his sights on capital markets, drawn by the work’s international dimension and its frequent engagement with state finances and cross-border regulation. “It sort of led me to applying to capital markets as my final seat,” he recalls. When the pandemic hit, many trainees were left completing foreign secondments from their spare bedrooms, but Adachi was fortunate enough to make it to Paris in person.
After qualification, Adachi settled into capital markets practice in London, specialising in debt capital markets and working on major financing deals worldwide. “The international element is definitely a highlight of what I’m currently doing,” he says. Much of his day-to-day involves arranging bonds, effectively large loans for governments or banks. “It’s like loans, but it’s sold on to many, many investors,” Adachi explains. “Unlike a simple bank loan from a single lender, a bond is held by numerous institutional investors, which is why each deal requires heavy documentation: every potential buyer needs to know exactly what they’re signing up to.”
White & Case’s client list is peppered with not just well-known corporates and major banks but sovereign states too. Adachi mentions working for Sweden’s Handelsbanken and for governments in Kenya, Nigeria, Angola and Zambia. Because each issuance requires full legal disclosure, drafting the offering documents is an enormous task. “It’s like a 200-300 page document,” he says, recalling the sheer scale of the paperwork. “Deals often span multiple legal jurisdictions. A bond could be governed by English law while the borrower is an African government, for instance. Juggling these cross-border legal requirements is something he finds especially interesting.”
One striking feature of these prospectuses is the mandatory “risk factor” section, where lawyers must list everything that could possibly go wrong. Think elections, geopolitical crises, economic shocks — the lot. “If it’s a particular country, there might be elections that are coming up, or even the war that’s happening in the Middle East at the moment,” Adachi explains. “That is a risk factor to most issuers.” In practice, this means flagging anything political or economic that could hurt the borrower’s finances. If a country relies heavily on imported fuel, for instance, a spike in oil prices would eat into its budget. “Creditors, needless to say, need to know about that,” he says.
But capital markets law isn’t all paperwork. Adachi says one of the best parts of the job is the opportunity to travel and meet clients in person. “I was recently in Kenya and Zambia, meeting with clients,” he recalls. Since so much of the deal preparation happens over phone or email, getting on location is a genuine treat. Face-to-face meetings let lawyers build personal relationships that no contract can capture. “Those are the best parts,” Adachi tells us.
When asked which traits make junior lawyers and trainees stand out, Adachi highlights two. The first is a willingness to ask questions. “Asking questions is a very, very positive thing,” he says, and even if it feels daunting, he urges trainees to push past that hesitation. He is quick to stress that this doesn’t have to mean going straight to a partner. “Draw on the people around you at every level, particularly fellow trainees,” he says. “There are other trainees in the team who are at a different stage, maybe second or third seaters, and they will have a bit more experience when it comes to the more basic tasks.”
The second, and perhaps most important, trait is proactivity. “I think being proactive is the most important thing,” says Adachi, who has been a supervisor himself for a year and a half. “I’m always willing to give people more responsibility if they’re willing to take it.”
Toward the end of our conversation, we turn to applications. Adachi is candid about how competitive the process has become. “I know it’s super, super competitive and it’s only getting more competitive,” he says, adding that he is genuinely sympathetic to anyone going through it right now. His advice, though, is straightforward. Quality over quantity. Rather than firing off the same application to dozens of firms, he suggests focusing on a smaller number and investing real time in each one. “If you just spend a bit more time and focus on fewer firms,” he says, the effort will show. That means reading up on a firm’s culture, following legal publications and reaching out to people who work there to get a feel for what sets it apart. “Try to understand what makes that firm different,” he says, “because I think that would really, really help when it comes to applications.” And for those who feel discouraged, he offers some reassurance.
“There’s always some light at the end of the tunnel,” he says, and sometimes it’s simply about finding ways to make yourself stand out. That doesn’t have to mean legal experience either: “Any other life/work experience makes a difference.”
Legal Cheek, in partnership with White & Case, is hosting a virtual student event titled ‘Discovering Debt Capital Markets’ on the afternoon of Tuesday 14 April. Secure your spot.
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