A day in the life of a corporate lawyer – Kieron Cummins

I qualified as a solicitor in 2021 and I am now an associate in the Corporate & Commercial team at Brachers. Each day at work brings its own fair share of curveballs and keeps me on my toes.

I advise clients across a broad spectrum of sectors on a variety of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, shareholder arrangements and corporate re-structuring and re-organisations.

I have the privilege of assisting nurseries, schools, academies, multi-academy trusts (MATs) with the legal complexities of their operations, in particular academy conversions—a niche but highly impactful transaction.

Starting the day

My day typically begins with a strong coffee and a quick scan of my emails. This morning, I’m reviewing a timeline for an academy conversion project. These projects involve schools transitioning from local authority control to becoming academies.

After reviewing client correspondence, I join a virtual all-parties meeting with the Department for Education (DfE), the Local Authority and their lawyers and a director from the incoming MAT. They’re keen to review the project progress and understand the next steps in the school’s conversion. This can include discussions on outstanding loan agreements or the transferring property, contracts, assets and staff under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) regulations.

Mid-morning: Drafting and reviewing

With the meeting concluded, I dive into drafting key documents. This might include the funding agreement between the academy and the DfE or the commercial transfer agreement (CTA), which ensures assets and liabilities are correctly transferred from the local authority to the academy trust. Today, I’m finalising a CTA for a primary school joining a large MAT.

Lunchtime networking

Lunch is often a mix of networking and professional development. Today, I attended the Education Matters webinar series on recent updates to employment law affecting schools, hosted by my colleagues in the Employment team at Brachers.

Afternoon: Collaboration and problem-solving

The afternoon is spent collaborating with colleagues in the Commercial Property and Employment teams. I am grateful to work at a full-service law firm where you can easily access the knowledge and expertise from colleagues in other areas of law and provide a seamless service to clients. Corporate transactions regularly involves complex property matters and TUPE transfers; academy conversions are no exception.

Wrapping up

By the end of the day, I reflect on the tangible impact of my work. Supporting schools through legal processes enables them to focus on their mission: providing education. While corporate law can be demanding, knowing that my efforts contribute to shaping the local educational landscape makes it deeply rewarding.

This content is correct at time of publication