Becoming a legal consultant with Peerpoint can open up a world of possibilities when it comes to pursuing your own interests and passions. It is certainly possible to have a fulfilling high-level legal career without having to put other projects and ideas on hold. We spoke to three Peerpoint consultants about what it is they enjoy doing alongside their legal consulting careers.
Quentin Liu, Corporate and M&A lawyer, Hong Kong
Tell us about how you use your time when you’re not working?
When I’m not working as a legal consultant I train and compete in Brazilian jujitsu (BJJ). I’ve been training for almost two years now and am currently competing as a blue belt. I love fighting and I’ve been training combat sports since my twenties, but it is in BJJ that I have found my true passion.
What makes me excited to get up at 5am every day to train are the many aspects of BJJ that transcend the sport itself. It is a martial art that forces me to be extremely honest with myself. It gives me the opportunity every day to face the demons – and deities – residing in my psyche, and it supplements and enhances my meditation practice. Training with my team at SHBJJ Hong Kong also gives me a strong sense of camaraderie and community. Coming from different societal and cultural backgrounds, we’re nevertheless all united in our shared efforts, our passion for progress and excellence, love and compassion.
What are you looking to achieve over the next year with Brazilian jujitsu?
To become better! One way that helps is to challenge myself more in tournaments: I’m planning to compete in world championships now that I’ve performed well within championships in Asia. To stand out among the world’s best athletes I will need to keep up the momentum and grow even faster. More importantly, I want to give back more to my team because they have been supporting me since the day I joined. The team is getting bigger with new students joining every week, and I have recently started to help our head instructors to coach our kids. Our kids are simply the best. They have always inspired me with their grit, integrity and commitment. Seeing them grow is one of my greatest joys!
How has legal consulting enabled you to balance your career and interests/passions?
The flexibility that legal consulting offers allows me to accommodate my training and competition schedules, and the soft skills honed during my legal consulting career make me a better problem-solver on the mats and a good communicator as a coach. In addition to that, the vast network that I have built up through legal consulting has helped me reach a broader audience than I would otherwise have access to – I can exchange new ideas, particularly on health and wellness, which is the primary concern that underpins my martial arts and meditation practices.
Find out more:
Visit Quentin's team website here and Instagram here.
Merridy Woodroffe, Corporate and regulatory lawyer, Australia
Tell us about how you use your time when you’re not working as a legal consultant?
I joined Peerpoint nearly two years ago and around the same time joined the Yoga Australia (YA) executive team. Like many in-house lawyers I’d been advising boards for years and was keen to use my corporate skills in a board appointment. When YA called for board members it was a perfect opportunity to get involved as a director of an organisation close to my heart because I’m also a huge yoga boffin. I’m a yoga/meditation teacher, yoga therapist and ashtanga yoga practitioner. As vice president I have a close advisory relationship with our CEO/president and the rest of the board and am happily putting all my corporate skills to use. Perhaps surprisingly, the board of a yoga teaching organisation requires just the same leadership, risk, financials, strategy, and management skills as any corporate board. However, we do start each meeting with a meditation!
What are you looking to achieve over the next year?
To continue with the YA board, as well as studying with the Savile Row Academy for a bespoke tailoring qualification. I started making my own clothes in primary school and over the years have built a comprehensive skillset but wanted to throw in a new challenge with ultra-bespoke tailoring. It’s a particularly challenging three-year course with extremely high standards in precision tailoring, hand-sewing, pattern drafting and fitting skills. I often spend my lunch hours and weekends with a needle and thread, practising handmade buttonholes or basting or one of the million other ultra-bespoke techniques that will take me thousands of hours to perfect.
How has legal consulting enabled you to balance your career and interests/passions?
While the placements are just as busy and engaging as permanent work, the extra level of ‘career advancement pressure’ is missing from the day to day. Although I’m still progressing in my career, it takes some of the mental load of lawyering off my shoulders, so I’m a better lawyer and have space for my other passions. I’m focused, balanced and find life very rewarding.
Find out more
Take a look at Merridy's sewing and tailoring Instagram here and at the Yoga Australia website here.
Clive Lampard, Real estate lawyer, UK
Tell us about how you use your time when you’re not working as a legal consultant?
I have recently completed a part-time PhD about the mediation of whistleblowing cases in the NHS. Until the all-consuming final stages, it was possible to balance the academic research work with Peerpoint consulting, working flexibly depending on the demands of each commitment. The PhD proved much more time-consuming than I had really anticipated, although the ability to work on the project during the Covid pandemic was very positive in providing shape and structure at a strange time.
Remaining on the A&O pro bono programme during the later stages of the project also allowed me to continue supervising the evening legal advice clinic run by the firm at Battersea Law Centre. I have always greatly enjoyed the 'qualified adviser' role, assisting clients from the local communities and being able to work with and get to know the A&O trainee community at the same time.
Since the summer of 2020 I have also volunteered as a driver for Food Bank Aid. It was set up in April 2020 to support food banks in north London during Covid lockdowns. Very sadly demand continues to grow and this incredible charity, run and staffed almost entirely by volunteers, has raised funding for, and now delivered, food and hygiene items worth £4m to around 30 food banks across north London and Hertfordshire.
What are you looking to achieve in the next year?
My objectives include re-integrating into the Peerpoint community and taking up pro-bono opportunities such as the Battersea Clinic, alongside publishing an article based on aspects of my thesis. I’m also determined to find time to continue being part of the Food Bank Aid community and - last but not least - for more adventurous cycling challenges, having recently completed a double-ascent of Mont Ventoux!
Find out more:
Visit Food Bank Aid's website here.