Exceptional Female Role Models – Emma Sutcliffe

Emma Sutcliffe is a Partner and Head of the Disputes & Investigations Group in the UK for international law firm Simmons & Simmons.

She acts on major investment banking disputes, is a leading partner in the contentious regulatory practice with extensive experience of regulatory investigation and enforcement.

She has spent time on secondment with Citi, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Emma previously served as Co-Chair of her firm’s Women’s Network (now Gender Network) The Number One Club (TNOC) - promoting the Diversity & Inclusion agenda within the firm and clients, plus working with other organisations to drive gender balance across the legal industry.

She is also a Committee Member on the Women’s Solicitors Network of The Law Society, exploring initiatives on gender issues such as how social mobility effects women, how we can increase the number of women amongst the judiciary, and the challenges of the menopause on women at precisely the age where they are operating at their peak but often decide to leave their profession when they conceivably could have another 20 years of career in front of them which would have seen them evolve into senior leadership within their firms.

Can we start by understanding more about your childhood and background?

I was born and raised in a village in Bedfordshire that was (probably helpfully) unremarkable. I didn’t come from money or privilege - my Dad was an Engineer and my Mum was an Office Administrator - but both of my parents worked incredibly hard, sacrificed a lot and were absolutely supportive of me throughout what was a happy and stable childhood – something for which I am immensely grateful (particularly as I am now a parent myself).

They always instilled in me a strong sense of ‘nothing comes for free’ and so even though there were certain subjects at school I was naturally strong at, I put in a lot of work to make sure I got the grades necessary to succeed. I spent the first half of my schooling in a state school and then was able to achieve a scholarship which enabled me to attend a fee-paying school.

I have a strong memory of my grandfather saying to me ‘Aim for the stars, if you hit a tall tree on the way up that’s fine’. This has always stuck with me – it’s difficult to set yourself goals that are both aspirational and achievable, but if you don’t stretch yourself, you will never know what you could have done. The important thing in life is to be aiming high, getting off the ground and giving it a try.

When I got accepted to study PPE at the University of Oxford it was a huge culture shock to me. I found myself observing the lifestyles of those students from well-heeled families, I felt very out of my depth and don’t mind admitting now that I struggled (although I masked it at the time). There were students who joined exclusive clubs, had money to eat out all the time and were spending their holidays on skiing holidays and travelling, whereas I worked all through my summers to help pay my way through university.

Looking back, I don’t regret that at all. I believe these jobs taught me some really useful skills; how to deal with a difficult customer, how hard you have to work to make good money, the value of patience, the value of knowing a business from the grass-roots up.

I was initially shy at university – a fact that possibly not many of my colleagues (or friends) today will believe! I had to learn to overcome my shyness and stand on my own two feet. Part of that was learning to voice my own opinion and develop a good argument; it took me a good two terms before I openly disagreed with my politics tutor only for his reaction to be one of delight – he had been waiting for me to step up.?It’s a lesson I have never forgotten.

It was also a bit of a shock to adjust to no longer being top of my class. I was used to being recognised as a capable student with high grades at school; but when I arrived at university, suddenly I didn’t stand out anymore as my whole degree cohort was packed full of high calibre individuals with a whole range of talents.?The lessons of humility and being forced to work harder have also stayed with me.

I was torn between career routes – I threatened for a long time to become a journalist as I knew I’d thrive in a job that required writing, investigating and arguing. I also thought I might become a Barrister – the two main reasons I didn’t pursue this career path was money and my worry about isolation. At the time, the levels of financial sponsorship available for barristers were much lower, and on top of my university debt I simply couldn’t afford to also support myself on the journey to be accepted to the Bar. I also realised that I really enjoy working in teams, and I figured that as a Barrister starting out, you’re more likely to be working alone and that didn’t appeal as much to me.

In the end I decided on a compromise. I did pursue a career in law, with the goal to do disputes work and be a litigator, but did it as a solicitor and got the sponsorships on offer from a law firm and the opportunity to work in bigger teams.

I completed my training contract with Herbert Smith Freehills, before moving to join Simmons & Simmons where I am now a Partner and Head of their Disputes & Investigations Group in the UK.

What valuable nuggets of wisdom do you wish you had learned earlier in life?

Please don’t switch off when I say this, but I can’t recommend highly enough the importance of developing the skill of listening. I mean actually listening, not pretending that you are while planning what you are going to say next.

There is something so powerful in letting the information others are communicating sink into your brain. As a litigator, where you are encouraged to argue and talk across people, this skill gets pushed down the in ranks of communicating, but in reality your own arguments are only good if they can adapt to what others are saying. When you listen you might hear something you weren’t expecting.

Also in many situations people just want to be heard, they just want to be given the opportunity to put their own position across. When they feel you are genuinely listening you suddenly find you get a very different type of engagement from people – they almost relax once they have conveyed their message.?Its that ‘day in court’ feeling.

I absolutely do encourage participation and enthusiasm when you are in the early years of your career, you don’t need to be passive and let others talk all the time but don’t forget to switch your ears on.

Put your hand up for as much as you reasonably can – participate, engage, don’t check out. It should get you noticed (for the right reasons!)…I also believe this is a virtuous cycle, in that when people recognise your participation they remember you, and when the better work opportunities come around it’s going to be these people that get approached first.

But it is important to balance being busy and engaged with not burning out, and this can be a difficult road to navigate. But I really do encourage people to give things a try.

Finally, I would say that careers can be stressful – especially if you choose to work in law! So it is important to be interested in and enjoy what you spend your working life doing. Try to build a sustainable career doing something that you are passionate about.

What is the best advice you have ever been given or regularly give to others?

The first piece of advice that has always been meaningful to me is a paraphrase of Admiral William McRaven’s advice that ‘If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed’.

It is a simple task - mundane at best. But the idea behind it is that if you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made - that you made - and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

One of the other great pieces of advice I got was to be a windbreaker for the team and people that sit beneath you.?As you advance in your career that is more and more people (including family and friends) and it is really important for you to absorb some of the pressure from above and not pass it on.

What I mean by this is that when you have had a rubbish day at work it is really important not to then take out your frustration on your team, your family or your friends.

I also think it is really important to develop broad shoulders, the strength and confidence required to push back and actually advocate for your team in the face of pressure from senior leaders or clients.

Finally, you need valuable colleagues at your level whom you can open up to and make sure your mental health isn’t suffering, especially if you are taking on the brunt of this pressure.

What are the biggest life lessons you have learned?

Integrity is so key to me.

Throughout your life there will be things that you get asked to do - both professionally and personally – that make you feel professionally uncomfortable - the ‘ick factor’ if you like. It’s sometimes quite intangible, small, or seemingly harmless. But when I am asked to do something and I get the ‘ick’, I am comfortable with refusing to compromise my values even if it means turning down work.

Standing up for what you think is right is important to me. Sometimes it might appear to cost you in the short-term, but I think in the long-term being true to a core value of integrity enables people to respect you and trust your judgement.

Kindness goes an awfully long way.

I think we can often become blinkered with our own lives and careers, sometimes thinking that we must be some kind of warrior that doesn’t show emotion. But some people are going through some really difficult things, and each of us taking the time to spare a thought, write an email, make a call, send some flowers, provide some positive feedback, meet up and offer support is really powerful and in my experience, people respond incredibly to kindness.

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When you are faced with challenges at work, have you any tips for overcoming adversity?

Everybody makes mistakes – I’ve made many, and remember with cold sweating horror the moment I’ve suddenly realised what I’ve done (or not done!)…so the first thing to focus on is that there is nobody who hasn’t made mistakes in the past. But do not under any circumstances try to fix it on your own, or cover it up.

You must talk to somebody immediately. Most things can be resolved, but it is vital to learn that sometimes the solution becomes so much more difficult when the mistake is brought to the attention of others too late.

Also, realise that if you try to cover a mistake up, when it is invariably discovered at some point in the future that will call into question your integrity and be far more damaging to your reputation.

Ultimately, you will also learn from it, avoid them happening in the future and will learn to empathise with others when they are in the same situation.

How important have mentors or role models been in your career?

The mentor relationships that have worked best for me are the ones that have grown organically. Most people want natural trust and rapport for the relationship to be most effective. That doesn’t mean picking someone who is going to be easy on you - you want mentors who will make suggestions and give you a nudge in the right direction, tell you when you are wrong and what to stop doing.

I’ve also had a formal sponsor which grew out of a mentoring relationship. This has been hugely valuable to me, as it definitely pushed me to go for things I may well have not gone for on my own.? One of my mentors and sponsors used to be my boss; now I am his! He has been a great source of career advice, and was also somebody who has delivered difficult messages to me over the years – things I needed to hear but nobody else was telling me – and then worked with me on creating solutions so I could grow and evolve as a leader.

I really struggled in my early career to find role models as there were no female partners in my group who were also working mums with working partners – the only women I could see either didn’t have children or they had a partner who stayed at home to look after the children.?I just couldn’t find role models who were balancing progressing their career with raising a family and also enjoying life.

So I ended up selecting the best traits from several different people and then combined this together to create the standards I wanted to achieve for myself. I would offer this as advice for anyone struggling to find their one role model.

I am now unapologetic and open at work about being a working mum who is also a partner of the firm. I want to show people in my team that there should be time and space for all the interests they have outside of work – and not just raising children but any other priorities you have.?

I no longer see leaving the office at 5.30pm as the ‘walk of shame’! I now make a point of saying Goodnight to everybody as I leave the office, and even though I might be logging back on later, there is no longer any stigma in my office to leaving on time.?I am pleased to say that is the norm where I work (I cannot take credit for this, many senior leaders now do it) and Covid has (despite its many disadvantages) completely reframed flexible working.

One of my proudest moments was that had my partnership interview when I was 7 months pregnant with my second child. They had to agree to move the interview forward when I pointed out that the date it was originally scheduled for was the same date as my C-section!?

I very nearly dropped out of that process.?It was really hard – with my husband and I balancing work commitments, having a toddler at home, I was really tired and nauseous, I couldn’t breathe properly, I couldn’t stand to do the presentation so I just sat down!

While it was wonderful to get the call to say I was being promoted, it was rightly eclipsed by the birth of my beautiful second daughter.

You sit on the Women's Solicitors Network Committee of The Law Society, could you tell us more about this?

The purpose of the committee is to look at the gender challenges that face the solicitor’s profession across the full spectrum of roles, whether it is in private practice, in-house, sole practitioners, junior and senior levels, in small, large, city and regional firms. We run a series of initiatives and events throughout the year aimed at raising awareness and giving individuals and firms the tools they need to improve that gender balance. We have been thinking a lot lately about cross-sector issues such as social mobility and women – supporting the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) process and Vacation Schemes, flexible working, career-break returners etc. If you look at the statistics, approximately 65% of solicitors who join the profession in the UK are women, but then when you look at senior leadership this figure drops to around 20-30%.

We are also doing a push at the moment on the judiciary – we certainly don’t have enough female judges. We are looking at providing awareness, role models, opportunities to upskill and encourage more solicitors, but particularly women, to consider a career as a judge.

One other area that I am really interested in and which is a major focus both internally at my firm and at The Law Society is looking closely at the Menopause.? This often happens to women at a point in their careers when they have gained a lot of experience, are operating at their peak, they have reached a decent level of seniority and have probably already had their families, and suddenly they experience something in their bodies and minds that makes it hard to continue doing this job. Symptoms like brain fog, struggling to sleep at night, anxiety & low mood, headaches, hot flushes – none of that is particularly helpful when your job is to provide high quality legal advice.

We need to look at how we can support these women through this period, as lots of them potentially still have 20 years of their careers left and would otherwise rise to the highest levels of senior leadership.

It is clear to me that the majority of gender imbalance issues we are trying to solve cannot be solved by doing just one thing.? There really is no ‘silver bullet’. It really is about looking at every step along the career journey as individual touchpoints – training, applying for roles, looking for promotions, seeking specific jobs in specific groups, starting a families, experiencing personal life challenges, going through periods of stress – all of these points cumulatively impact whether a woman remains employed by your firm and even if she continues working in the profession (to be clear, they affect men too and often what helps women thrive, helps everyone thrive).

It really does take time, investment, and persistence to keep looking at each of these points and producing meaningful initiatives that one-by-one help to move us towards more equitable solutions.