SAHM 2024: A conversation with Nathan Menon, Nav Sahota and Sakil Suleman

In the final episode of our dedicated SAHM podcast miniseries, Gautam Bhattacharyya hosts Reed Smith partners Nav Sahota, Nathan Menon and Sakil Suleman for a conversation on identity and the power of cultural roots in shaping careers. The partners reflect on their South Asian heritage and the significance of South Asian Heritage Month 2024, and offer heartfelt advice to their younger selves and aspiring lawyers.

Transcript:

Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith Podcast, Inclusivity Included, Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions and challenges, past and present, all with the goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, inclusivity included.

Gautam: Hello, everyone, and welcome to a special podcast that we're doing as part of Reed Smith's celebrations of South Asian Heritage Month 2024, which this year runs from the 18th of July to 17th of August. We are very proud at Reed Smith to have as a big part of our culture, a very strong focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. And this podcast is one that I'm really overjoyed to be doing because it's with three people in our firm, three partners of mine, three dear friends of mine who I have the utmost regard and admiration for. And I'm delighted that they have agreed to be my guests on this podcast. And I know that we're going to have a very informative and enjoyable discussion, not least because I know all three of these fantastic people so well. I'm going to introduce them first of all, and then we'll get into the podcast. First of all, Nav Sahota. Nav is a partner in our real estate group, has a very broad real estate practice, covering all aspects of corporate real estate and real estate finance and landlord and tenant work. And she is also the chair of our diversity, equality and inclusion efforts in London. So Nav, welcome. Secondly, I'd like to introduce Sakil Suleman. Sakil Suleman is a partner in our corporate group and has a very broad corporate and commercial law practice. He not only handles M&A and private equity, but also all aspects of commercial and technology law and franchising law. He was Nav's predecessor as the head of our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in London. So Sakil, a very warm welcome to you too. Last and definitely not least is Nathan Menon. Nathan is a partner in our financial industries group specializing in structured finance, capital markets, and several other aspects of banking and finance, including, very importantly, social impact finance, which is a major part of our CSR initiatives. So Nathan, great to have you here as well, making up the triumvirate. And I'm much looking forward to our discussion with you all. So let me start off with you, Nav, if I may. What inspired you to become a lawyer? And who have been your key mentors so far in your career?

Nav: That's a relatively easy question for me because when I was 13, I got very interested in human rights and I joined my Amnesty International group at school. And that very much ignited me. A fire of learning more about access for justice and equality for everyone. And so that very much got my appetite into why law is important. And then I did work experience when I was about 16, shadowing in the Crown Court a circuit judge. And that very much brought law alive for me. And I was very intrigued by it, interested by it. But what particularly motivated me was when I was in the courtroom, there weren't really many people that looked like me that were part of the legal institution, particularly women or Asian people, people of color. And I very much wanted to be part of law because I feel that law has to reflect the wider community. And I wanted to be part of that change. And fortunately, I was very lucky at my school. I had great teachers that helped me sort of focus on how to do a law degree, which is what I decided I wanted to do. And so throughout my career and before then I think I've had key teachers that have helped me throughout there's Miss Porter my history teacher who very much helped me throughout the whole process and I think without her I would not have pursued law when I was in university I had an absolutely amazing human rights um he was a QC now I'm a KC who helped me once again very much with getting onto the city law path and ultimately as any asian I could say my biggest mentors would have to be my family and very much my parents have been like great supporters of me particularly my mom and grandma as well I couldn't say that my grandma was a very. Feisty punjabi woman and she very much you know wanted me to do whatever I wanted to do and to follow my dreams so I've been very much supported by my family and once I've been at But Reed Smith, as you know, Gautam, you've been a great sponsor. And there's been many people throughout my Reed Smith career that have helped me get to where I am today.

Gautam: Thank you, Nav. That was great. And you're right. Family is so critical as people who inspire and encourage us. Nathan, how about you?

Nathan: Thanks, Gautam. Following the theme of family, I was brought up by two doctors. So the idea of me becoming a lawyer was, you know, I very much rebelled by becoming a lawyer. What brought me to law? In some ways, I'm quite the opposite of Nav. I only really decided on my career path quite late in life. I did a history and politics degree before I became a lawyer. And I suppose a lot of the principles that I learned there in terms of importance of access to justice, importance of the rule of law, justice, it did have an impact on me sort of becoming a lawyer. In terms of my path, I'd say it was, you know, to me, I was in a position where I applied to kind of vacation schemes and junior roles at that level, which was at Richard's Butler, the predecessor firm to Reed Smith, and then was offered sort of training contract opportunities off the back of that. I've spent my whole life, a whole working professional life rather, at Reed Smith and I've been lucky to have a huge number of mentors that have been, you know, incredibly generous with their time, their advice and guidance throughout. You, of course, are one of them, Gautam. You've been an incredible source of support and guidance over the years. Especially, I've always found it's useful to have mentors that sit outside of your direct practice area. They can sometimes give a certain amount of space for you to explore ideas that you may not necessarily have been able to explore otherwise when you're working with people that directly work in your practice area. Another member of the Reed Smith team is Gregor Pryor, who's been, especially as I was sort of preparing for partnership and the responsibilities that that brings, he was very good at sort of guiding me along that way, and especially from a business development perspective. Finally, within the team I sit in Structured Finance, I've been very lucky to spend my career under the guidance of Tamara Box, who's been a wonderful person at bringing others up with her and being able to provide not only the guidance on careers, but also opportunities for you to thrive, whether that's in front of clients or business development opportunities or article writing or other forms of profile raising. She's been you know one of the most important and uh and sort of long-standing influences on my career so i've been incredibly lucky.

Gautam: Thank you Nathan and I think you definitely did rebel when you didn't become a doctor uh so uh but thank goodness that you rebelled because uh you know we because we've got you so thank you for that now last definitely not least on this question Sakil tell us a little bit about your thoughts on that question.

Sakil: Yeah, no, thanks, Gautam, and good to be speaking with you all today. In terms of sort of what inspired me to go into law, I think it was almost a natural evolution. I think from a very young age, it seems as though I was very much a go-to person when anyone got into any sort of trouble, whether that's sort of someone that's got a detention at school and wanted to write a letter of apology. They'd come to me to help them out, whether it's a parking ticket and they needed some help. So I think from a very young age, I was being groomed, I think, Gautam. But I never really thought about a career in law until sort of slightly later in my education life. There was no lawyers in the family and my dad and my brothers, they were very much into sort of business. A lot of it was kind of retail consumer focus so I always thought that was an area that I'd sort of follow in when I was doing my A-levels I think there was a business studies teacher that you know when you talk about mentors I would say that he was one of my early mentors and my academics up to that stage were quite strong and this teacher had been a lawyer and then went into to banking before he had a total change in career and became a teacher. And he took me under his wing a bit and sort of started telling me about the legal sector and corporate life. And that's what really sort of piqued my interest just before I sort of started my degree. And once I'd sort of looked into it, I caught the bug and I felt that that would be a good avenue for me to pursue you because I i could still sort of go into sort of my areas of interest which were generally business and commerce but to do that with a professional qualification and and to to do it in the city was something I’d sort of targeted from that stage onwards.

Gautam: Thank you Sakil, you know that's it's it's been really good to hear from all three of you as to how you started out and because I think these are the sorts of stories that especially lots of young aspiring inspiring lawyers and the next generation who will follow us will be much enriched by. So thank you, Sakil. Now, I want to turn next to something which, let's face it, is something that many people from an ethnic minority background face when pursuing a career like law, and that there are bound to be challenges that we face. And I know I've certainly faced many challenges when I was looking back in the course of my career. I'd like to ask each of you to spotlight one challenge that each of you has faced in the course of your career to date and how you've overcome that challenge so I wonder if I could on this one start with Nathan?

Nathan: Thanks Gautam. Yeah me I think there's a particular distinction I think to be drawn here between, all of us as lawyers and all of us in our day-to-day lives and I think the challenge that I've encountered is maybe slightly different to what others may draw on. In a professional context, when I joined the firm in 2011 as a trainee, and I'm happy to say that I don't think I've ever encountered by colleagues or by people on the other side of transactions or in a professional context, any sort of racist abuse or any problems of that nature, which I think shows how far we've come on the journey there's still room to travel for sure but I compare that with you know my my parents both of whom were junior doctors working in A&E in in northern uh sometimes mill towns in the 1970s when their life was incredibly different they would be on the wards with um the threat of of racist abuse being part of their day-to-day life and part of and and a sort of occupational hazard as it were I was fortunate enough not to have that. What where I have experienced things is outside of that professional environment and I think that's where my interest in a lot of these DE&I activities only came to me quite you know in in recent years I'm thinking in particular when you know the sort of uh the events that that happened in the US around, you know, the murder of George Floyd in 2020. And, that what that sort of sparked in me was a willingness to try and engage with some of the issues at play but also try and understand what members of my family went through in previous generations and I think a lot of that was linked to the fact that my parents both around that time coming up to and and were preparing for retirement where they were able to speak more openly about issues when previously they weren't because they thought it may be held against them and a couple of lessons I think sort of got pulled out of that one is you know I was always told growing up and my parents and they probably still say to me to a certain extent today you know keep your head down work hard and you achieve what you want don't go out trying to start trouble don't try and you know try and put your head above the parapet and and and you know draw too much attention to yourself if you just get on with things things will come to you and in some ways that's really noble message but in other respects actually it just sort of encapsulates a kind of uh an acceptance of racism that means that you have to approach your life in a different way to someone that wasn't of a South Asian background. And if you look at this, you know, and I look at sort of where, you know, racism or issues of that nature kind of impact my life, it's certain things that happen, not particularly regularly, but it's, you know, when you go to travel, you realize that, you know, the security that you have to go through, there's always another security check that you have to go through that doesn't seem to impact anybody else. You know, there's people talking at you a certain way if you're asking for additional help in a shop, you know, things like that. And how I've overcome those problems. It's a difficult one to answer because it's not something that I think can always be overcome in such a straightforward way. The way I've dealt with it really is to learn more about the journey that we've been on. As I mentioned earlier, I did a history and politics degree. And I have only recently sort of grappled with and learned some of the history of the empire, which is for whatever reason is not taught at school. It's only now people are starting to talk about it being taught in schools. And learning about that journey that we've been on as a as a British Asian community in the UK and a British Asian community coming to the UK I think gives me a lot of hope and a lot of positive messages for the journey that we can go on because you've seen the progress that's been made it's now a case of building on that momentum and trying to uh and trying to you know make make lives better for for for everyone in this country.

Gautam: Thank you Nathan. Nav, how about you?

Nav: Hi just sort of carrying on from what Nathan was mentioning, I don't know whether anyone has watched the Channel 4 documentary, Defiance, Fighting the Far Right in the 70s and 80s, which came out earlier this year in March. And I think for me, that very much sort of put in context the challenges of what my parents' generation went through and how, you know, because of them, I've had a very much smoother journey because of the way that they've sort of challenged being treated as a different culture and not being British. And they, the journey that they've been on, I found very inspirational and watching that documentary sort of brought it home because I've only ever heard of snippets of it from my parents. And I think looking on that, my own journey within, you know, the law has been very smooth. And that's only thanks to all the defiance and, you know, that the previous generations have shown. I think what I have felt various challenges with it is very much in line with the theme of this year's South Asian Heritage Month topic which is free to be me and I think when I was junior in my career I had a very sort of you know a very specific personality outside of work which was very outgoing and you know sort of gregarious and then in the in the office I very much just wanted to sort of as Nathan was saying not being seen and get on with things and part of that was my own insecurity of not sort of you know actually embracing my difference my culture but I would say that as I've you know I work in a wonderful team the real estate group in Reed Smith and it's a very friendly open group and that's very much brought me brought my sort of home me my work me very much aligned and I think being in that sort of safe open environment where I can mention you know which is what I've been doing in the last Last few weeks, I spent 10 days in California going to 20 wedding events my cousins had, which is something that previously I probably wouldn't have mentioned. So I think I have faced challenges, but a lot of them have come from within me, if you understand what I mean, that I sort of put all the limitations on myself, which were unnecessary.

Gautam: Yeah, no, no. I tell you what I'm saying. And I think you deserve a medal for going to 20 events, 20 wedding events. So I'll certainly give you a medal for that one. Sakil, how about you? Just tell us a little bit about your challenges and your thoughts on that.

Sakil: Yeah, no, I very much resonate with, I think, a lot of what Nav and also what Nathan has said. I think it's twofold. And part of it really is what's within yourself and your own perceptions, right? And, you know, in terms of our own parents and the first generation, the sort of resilience that they showed, to be honest, they had it much tougher than I think we have. And as Nathan says, the situation is improving. There's lots more to be done, but it's certainly going in the right direction for future generations. I think in terms of some of the challenges, I think it's sort of worth flagging. The first one really is entry into the profession. And again, you know, if you speak to sort of the generation now, they may tell you similar stories. But certainly in my time, there was a lack of representation. You know, you couldn't see people that looked like you in senior positions within the profession. Profession and and inherently that made you doubt whether this is a career that you'll be accepted in or whether you could be be yourself I was sort of slightly naive Gautam when when it came to sort of applying for training contracts I said I didn't have any family within the law and didn't really have any connections that that could kind of guide me so yeah simple things like uh when to to apply and kind of what approach you should take in applying to city law firms. That was all very new to me. And to be honest, I think I was quite lucky and blessed that I managed to get a training contract quite easily within the second year of my degree compared to the journey that some of my peers had at the time. And what I see now, retrospectively, I was quite lucky. But one story really sticks out in that journey where as I said my academics were always quite. Strong and and I always thought that would be enough to kind of get get me to where I wanted to be so that that kind of came as a bit of a shock to me when I started applying to you know the magic circle and within a couple of days you kind of get get the rejection back and you think have they even read my application so it soon became clear that you probably need to do be be doing more, the academics aren't. Aren't enough. And I remember I had one interview at a city law firm, which went well. And the partner that I met there sort of said to me, look, your CV, your application is spot on, you present really well. But just the way that you're dressed, you know, the shoes that you've got on, the tie that you've got on, you can't be wearing that to an interview. And looking back at Now, it was really obvious, but no one had said that to me because I didn't have those sorts of mentors at the time. And that partner spent sort of a good 15, 20 minutes with me just talking with me about sort of the expectations and how I'd need to adjust certain things to sort of fit in. And that, I think, was sort of a tipping point for me because I sort of soaked that up. And then I reached out and sort of spoke to more people. And in the end, I managed to get a good training contract. But I think kind of that 15, 20 minutes that that partner spent to me sort of, you know, closing the books and putting the formality aside and just kind of guiding me. I remember that to this day. And it just shows that sort of small things that you can do can make a real impact for people. So that's one thing that really stuck out. The second thing I think in terms of challenges, it's worth mentioning, and again, this was sort of more my own perception and my own self-doubt, was when I did start, my training contract started working in the early days, it was clear that. You know, the pub culture, alcohol was a big part. And that was difficult for me, given sort of, you know, I don't drink. And you sort of begin to question, well, would I need to sort of change myself to fit in? And again, that's where sort of the culture of a firm becomes really important, because you need to be comfortable that you will be accepted in that environment for who you are. And, you know, there are certain things that you can compromise on like what you wear and how you present yourself there are other things that if you feel strongly enough you shouldn't have to compromise on and I was lucky enough to be in a firm that had a very open and flexible culture and I managed to sort of navigate that challenges but a lot of it was me questioning myself and it was only really with that experience I managed to sort of overcome that and say look no there are certain things that you can just be your true self, as Nav was saying.

Gautam: Thank you all very much. Those are just incredibly uplifting messages to hear from all of you. Even though I know you so well, all of you so well, I've certainly learned, I've got more insights into all three of you from those answers. So thank you very much indeed. The next thing I want to move on to is, there's no doubt, and I can say this because the three of you won't say it openly, but the three of you are great examples of achievement. You've achieved very well. You're great at what you do. And as evidenced by our discussion that's just gone, you've seen things in a perspective and you've driven yourselves forward and you've made those achievements happen. If you were to look back, because one of the things about South Asian Heritage Month is that it inevitably involves people looking back. As well as looking forward and giving younger generations some inspiration. And again, I can say this because you three won't say it about yourselves, but you are three incredibly inspiring people. If you were to each look back and give your younger self one piece of advice, that would help someone from a generation yet to come, rather, doing what we do what would that be and let me start here with you Sakil i'll go back to you again Sakil and ask you to share one thought and then I'll ask Nav and then Nathan to share a thought too.

Sakil: Sure I guess I'm I i think kind of again looking back the the tip I would give my younger self is be proud of who you are and embrace your diversity and the value and the the benefit that that diversity can bring to your firm. I think I'd advise my younger self to be more confident in who I am and the value that I bring to a firm. So less pressure about conforming and embracing your diversity. And one thing I'd mentioned to sort of highlight that is, like a lot of Asian parents, what my parents always sort of said to me and instilled in me and obviously. - They they came into the uk in the early 70s where there were all sorts of challenges, and and you know what what worked for them and what they always sort of ingrained in me is you've got to work twice as hard as anyone else to kind of be at the same level and they kind of that into me and that was something that kind of stuck with me throughout my life when I when I was studying and and that's something I brought to work as well kind of that work ethic and when you speak to some of the younger generation now you know rightly they question well should we have to do that should we have to work twice as hard as as the next person to achieve the same thing and and the answer is probably not if you're looking at it in terms of you know parity and fairness but it doesn't do you any harm you know if you can kind of it's it if it's sort of part If it's part of your culture, it's something you've grown up with, embrace it. And if it means that it helps you succeed, that's a great thing. So the advice I'd give to my younger self is be proud of it and embrace it.

Gatuam: Thank you, Sakil. Nav, how about you?

Nav: I think pretty much what Sakil said, he stole my thunder. I was going to say pretty much the same thing that very much see your difference as your strength because your employers will, your clients will. And I think looking at me off, I remember one of my very close friends said to me, she goes, oh, you're very good at networking. And she goes, I think it's because you've obviously, you were telling me when you were growing up, your parents used to have all these big events where you'd go to these functions and you were left very much go to speak to anyone your age and you're used to finding something in common with everyone and I never really thought of that as something cultural I just thought oh and at the time I very much resented having to talk to all and sundry but I very much think there are strengths in your culture that you sometimes can't see but they are inherently there so I would say to anyone young you know and this is something that I didn't do so I feel that I probably should have done is sort of lean into those strengths so for example it's never too early to start networking and make those connections within your community within the industry that you're working with and you will naturally find mentors and sponsors like very much Gautam the first time I met you was when I was very new to the firm at a firm party and you came and introduced yourself to me and since then you've very much become a sponsor, and that was very much through natural, fluid networking. And I think there are so many within our cultures, and it's bearing in mind it's a very varied culture within South Asia, but there is so much sort of connection, helping each other. Being together as a community, and that very much, that collaboration will set you off very well in a legal career and other careers as well. Thank you, Nav. Last, definitely not least on this question, Nathan.

Gautam: Thank you. I think one of the best things about doing this podcast, Gautam, is just hearing other people's stories and knowing that, you know, a lot of these things that Asian parents came out with, you're not the only one that's heard them, right? Yeah, working twice as hard, I think, was almost a daily mantra that was recited in the Menon the Household, I think, almost certainly. I think, you know, Nav and Sakil really hit the nail on the head. The one I would say is use opportunities to help educate people. You'll be surprised how interested people are in in south asian culture it's very much sort of transcended into british culture in many ways I mean I remember growing up watching Goodness Gracious Me on tv and it still blows my mind a little bit that in the mid to late 90s there was you know Asian faces on primetime BBC one making jokes about you know um an uncle who thought everything came from India because I had an uncle that thought everything came from India.

Gautam: Yeah I remember that exactly!

Nathan: I think you know using that covid really taught me that clients in particular are really interested not just in in people that can give them great legal advice but in the people that we are because they get on and they instruct us because they like us as people and they get on with us as people and you got a window into your clients lives during in covid you saw cats and dogs in the background and children running off with the camera and you know playing and bringing their parents some toys to play with or whatever and I had a lot of clients that would talk to me about about things that I wouldn't normally get a chance to speak to them about some of that has linked into sort of my cultural background a lot of my clients are interested in you know where my family originally came from in south India um languages that we speak festivals that we celebrate or how we celebrate festivals a bit differently from in in other parts of India and I think using that as an opportunity to you know help spread that knowledge and South Asian Heritage month is part of that as well taking those opportunities even if they're little small ones just to you know help help educate people you'll learn something as well and you'll learn about you know about other people's cultures in the same way uh just taking those opportunities what I would the advice i'd give a give my younger self if I could.

Gautam: Well, look, thank you. You know, these stories are so instructive, especially as we move into South Asian Heritage Month, because we are all a product of our heritage. Our heritage is a strength. It's a real, I believe, a real superpower that we have. It makes us who we are. And there's a huge diversity, as Nav, you mentioned. South Asian Heritage Month is a real mixture of lots of different types of heritage from different countries, geographies, cultures, religions. Traditions. It's epitomized by the three of you, in fact. I mean, you're a perfect microcosm, the three of you, Sakil, Nav, and Nathan, of that diversity amongst South Asian heritage. And I'm just incredibly grateful that we had a chance to do this podcast together, and listeners will be able to listen to your stories and be enriched by them. And I know they will be. I want to end as we always do, because time has caught up with us. I always end these podcasts with a bit of lighthearted conversation. So again, we find out a bit more about the person that we're speaking to. And there's three of you, and I've got three questions. I'm going to pose a different question to each one of you. And it's just a bit of fun, a quick, sharp response is perfect. I'm not going to be interrogating you too much on these questions but let me start with uh Nav on this one have you got a favorite album and if so which one is it?

Nav: I'm probably the worst person to ask this question because I like songs from different artists and no one specific album but I would say that growing up my favorite two artists to show how diverse it were um was Smashing Pumpkins and Dr. Dre so I cover all bases places.

Gautam: That is a brilliant choice, actually. You do cover lots of bases with that, actually. I love it. I love it. Brilliant. Okay, let me ask the next one of Nathan. Okay. Have you got a favourite film? And if so, which one is it?

Nathan: Yeah, my favourite film is a film called A Bronx Tale, which is Robert De Niro's directorial debut made in the mid-90s, a gangster film about about a son and influences from the mob and influences from his dad and the message of that film which is is something that I think about I probably think about far more often than I should is the worst thing in life is wasted talent that is a very very important thought actually yeah so there is a strong message in the bronx tale it's a great film if if if you If you haven't seen it, I would sort of strongly recommend it.

Gautam: Yeah, it shouldn't go under the radar, that film, for sure. And again, look, last, definitely not least, my dear friend, Sakil, I'm going to give you the task of bringing this podcast to a close with this question. Have you got a favourite travel destination that you've been to? Or, and I'm going to give you an alternative you might want to answer, is there a place that you've not been to so far that you'd love to visit?

Sakil: Right, so I think I'll take you up on that second proposition there, Gautam. Again, I've been fairly lucky in that I've travelled fairly extensively, and in particular, South Asia, obviously, Middle East, Africa, and that sort of combination of work and leisure. The one place that I haven't had the chance to go to yet, which my wife, when we got married, was somewhere that she'd sort of flagged. And we didn't quite get to go there at the time and said that we would explore that region. But once you get sort of, you know, four kids and sort of a family, it's never transpired. But we've still got it on our bucket list. And that's China. We'd love to sort of explore China. A number of reasons for that. Food and culture are kind of top of the list. But yeah, that's something that we talk about a lot. And at some stage, we would like to spend some time out there. So I'd say China.

Gautam: Superb. Well, thank you for closing things out so spectacularly, Sakil. Well, look, But it just leaves me to express huge appreciation to the three of you, Nav, Nathan, and Sakil, not just for being such wonderful friends of mine. And I repeat myself. I'm extremely fond of all three of you. I admire you. I respect you hugely. Thank you for taking part in this podcast. It's a very important podcast. It's something that I know is very important to all four of us and to others in our firm and many, many others. And that is South Asian Heritage Month and the importance of who we are, our backgrounds, our heritage, what we believe in, and bringing our whole selves to who we are and what we are and what we do. And so I'm extremely grateful to you all for taking time out for this podcast and I'm sure that many many listeners are going to enjoy listening to what you've all said so thank you all very much and I'll see you all very soon.

Outro: Inclusivity Included is a Reed Smith production. Our producers are Ali McCardell and Shannon Ryan. You can find our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, reedsmith.com and our social media accounts. 

Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and is not intended to establish an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to suggest or establish standards of care applicable to particular lawyers in any given situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Any views, opinions, or comments made by any external guest speaker are not to be attributed to Reed Smith LLP or its individual lawyers. 

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