TLT’s head of future energy talks AI, the grid and why the best trainees stay curious about their clients’ worlds
“The core principle has always been putting the client at the forefront of your thinking and identifying how we as lawyers can help them achieve their objectives,” says Maria Connolly, who heads TLT’s national real estate group and its future energy sector.
Connolly joined TLT as a trainee in the late 1990s and has now spent 29 years at the firm. “I am TLT through and through,” she says. “That is something I am hugely proud of in terms of the opportunities I’ve had to develop my entire career at TLT.” As well as leading the firm’s clean energy and renewables work across all service lines, she sits on its executive board and sponsors its work on sustainability and ESG, which she says “resonates very well with my work leading our future energy practice”.
So what does commercial awareness really mean? Connolly is clear that it goes well beyond the law. “It is far from limited to simply providing legal advice. It might involve chatting about the next development in the sector or putting clients together by making introductions or new stakeholder connections.” For students, the key is “to be creative and curious about what clients might be facing and where the opportunities lie”.
Her own practice offers a front-row seat. TLT advises on energy projects from the pre-development stage, which means securing land rights, planning and grid connections, right through to buildout. Along the way come regulatory hurdles, financing and M&A activity, all of which put commercial considerations at the heart of the work. Connolly tells Legal Cheek Careers that “we operate as an extension of our clients’ teams”, taking “a one-team approach to delivering projects where lawyers perform their role as part of a much larger team”.
So, is it something you can pick up quickly? “No, commercial awareness is something you continue to develop throughout your entire career; it cannot be learned purely from a textbook. It requires immersing yourself in your clients’ world.” She points to colleagues returning from secondments, who often note that “sitting alongside clients gave them a practical understanding of commercial priorities, opportunities, and challenges”. Effective advising, she adds, means acting pragmatically in the client’s best interest “rather than negotiating for negotiation’s sake”. Secondments, transaction work and client relationships all build the skill over time.
For aspiring trainees who are not yet at a firm, the advice is to start with the world around them. “Be aware of the world around you and how broader economic and political factors influence sector outcomes.” Connolly suggests reading widely about specific sectors, keeping an eye on legal tech and AI, and learning to “think outside the box”. Being a lawyer, she says, “involves much more than understanding the legal profession itself”.
Moving on to applications, Connolly gives a blunt warning. “Do not use AI to write your application answers, as it produces generic responses similar to other candidates.” Instead, she says, candidates should make sure their answers are “reasoned, creative, curious, and tailored specifically to TLT rather than answers that could apply to 20 other firms”. Her verdict? “Authentic, thoughtful answers stand out.”
AI is, of course, changing law firms too. TLT’s proposition is “human-led, tech-enabled”, and Connolly says the firm has moved from experimenting with AI to implementing it, which has been “transformational in freeing up more time for our lawyers to focus on where we really add value”. For junior lawyers, the answer is to focus on “the things AI cannot do: build strong relationships, sit in the room with clients, and remain creative and curious”. As she puts it: “Those human qualities will differentiate you from someone simply submitting a query into an AI platform.”
Turning to the year ahead, Connolly picks out three things to watch in the energy sector. The first is grid reform. The UK has just been through its largest grid reform ever, aimed at “making grid availability and accessibility fairer”, and the focus now shifts from the detail to getting projects connected, which she says “will be very exciting over the next year”. Second, Clean Power 2030 is fast approaching. “We will see continued acceleration in delivering government targets to connect clean power technologies to the grid,” she says. Third, onshore wind is back on the cards for England. While projects stayed active in Scotland and Wales, England had a de facto ban, which was lifted on day one of the new government. “We expect significant progress in English onshore wind projects,” says Connolly, who sees “fantastic opportunities to generate more clean energy” as a result.
ESG, she says, “remains very high on the boardroom agenda”. Corporates across all sectors are embedding renewables into their ESG strategies through on-site generation, such as rooftop solar, battery storage and EV charging. “Beyond individual corporate action, collaboration and sharing best practice will be crucial to achieving net-zero targets,” she says.
On geopolitical uncertainty, she is clear that “advisers and businesses must remain aware of world events and how economic or geopolitical factors impact specific markets”. Her main message, though, is about stability. When energy subsidies were removed a few years ago, businesses had to reshape their models, and the sector now operates largely on a subsidy-free basis while remaining highly attractive to developers, investors and funders. “A stable regulatory environment enables investors to invest, banks to fund, and developers to build, providing a strong platform for the energy transition to evolve.”
Which sectors will be busiest in 2027? “Energy remains right at the top as projects move into delivery and grid connection,” she says. Infrastructure follows, “spanning public and private sector projects supported heavily by the government”. Data centres are one to watch too, given the strong synergy between data centres, infrastructure and energy as they seek clean, green electricity from the grid. Asked for one word to describe the commercial climate, she says “Optimistic”, citing “significant momentum in energy transition and digital transformation”. She cautions, however, that “firms should not become complacent given how much is happening”.
As for predictions, she says “we will now see a significant volume of projects being built, connecting to the grid, and generating clean power”. She also expects big progress in planning for major infrastructure projects, and continued positive surprises in how law firms adopt AI.
Finally, Connolly shares the advice she wishes she had been given at the start of her career. “Having the confidence to contribute in forums with senior colleagues at a junior level. You do not need years of seniority before your voice counts.” She finds speaking with apprentices, graduates and trainees refreshing because they “ask brilliant questions, challenge existing ways of working, and bring curiosity and innovative thinking”. Her parting words are simple: “Do not be afraid to have a voice early in your career.”
Maria Connelly will be speaking at The Big Commercial Awareness Themes of 2026-27, along with representatives of other top law firms, a virtual event taking place on Friday 6 November from 2pm to 4:30pm. Secure your place now.
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