Hogan Lovells’ associate Kaushik Karunakaran shares his career journey, insights into this key area of finance and the importance of a supportive firm culture
“Almost every trainee’s life is affected by debt capital markets whether they know it or not”, says Kaushik Karunakaran, debt capital markets associate at Hogan Lovells. “The more you know about it, the more you realise how pervasive its impact can be.” Despite this, he is well aware that, “the topic is probably not something that many aspiring lawyers know a lot about. It can seem less accessible than other areas of law.”
This was not the case for Karunakaran however, who started at Hogan Lovells after completing a master of laws degree in international corporate governance and financial regulation at the University of Warwick. He had initially planned to go back to India after his studies, but these plans were interrupted when he met Hogan Lovells at a Warwick careers event. “I could see the kind of opportunities that were available to me,” he tells me, “I spoke to Hogan Lovells and felt like the kind of people working at the firm were people I could relate to and nice people to work with. I thought I should just give it a shot.”
Karunakaran landed a winter vacation scheme with Hogan Lovells in 2017 where his first impression of the firm proved to be true. “The impressions I had before were solidified and I was assured that this was a place that I would really enjoy working.” For Karunakaran, the culture and people were central to his choice of firm. “When you are working late nights and long hours at least you’re working with people you like and who genuinely care about you,” he says. “This was the impression I had during the two weeks of my vac scheme.”
It was this positive impression of Hogan Lovells’ culture which persuaded Karunakaran to accept a training contract with the firm which started in February 2021. He sat in litigation, debt capital markets and private equity as well as undertaking an international secondment to Hogan Lovells’ Brussels office where he worked with the competition law team. Karunakaran qualified in February 2023 and has now been working as an associate for a year and a half. “It’s been a bit different from being a trainee,” he comments, “but I have definitely settled into life as an associate now and I’m really enjoying it.”
Reflecting back on his training contract, Karunakaran tells me, “It is a nurturing environment.” “Not to say that it’s always going to be easy” he makes clear. “There are going to be tough days with long hours and challenging work.” It is the firm’s supportive culture that got Karunakaran through these busy patches. “I don’t think I have ever been left to deal with something alone,” he says. “In terms of supervision, I always had somebody to reach out to. Whether that was one supervisor or the general team.”
I am curious to learn more about Karunakaran’s secondment abroad and what he gained by working with Hogan Lovells lawyers on the continent. “It was so reassuring to know that the firm has a similar culture across different offices,” he tells me, “I was pleasantly surprised and very happy with that.” “I was interested in competition law and Brussels is one of the best places to practice competition law,” he says, yet maintains that he had strong links to his home office throughout the secondment: “There was enough connection to the London office that I could still be in touch with people here. The competition law team put on training sessions which I joined in on. It didn’t feel like I was cut off from the London office so I had an easy transition back.”
Karunakaran left competition law behind in Brussels and went on to qualify into Hogan Lovells’ debt capital markets group. “I was more inclined towards a transactional department”, he tells me. “Because the timing of each deal is shorter compared to other departments, I can see the deals I work on through from start to finish and the work is fast-paced and interesting.” I ask Karunakaran about the skills and attributes that make a good debt capital markets lawyer. “Attention to detail,” he tells me, “and an awareness of how the financial world works.” However, he is keen to note that “This is something that can be developed. Nobody is an expert when they start as a trainee in debt capital markets.”
So, for aspiring solicitors wanting to build this knowledge, what are the issues they should be reading up on? “One of the biggest issues that generally gets a lot of publicity and would be worth keeping track of is interest rates,” Karunakaran tells me, “The Bank of England has cut down interest rates recently and is expected to make more cuts in the future. How this impacts banks and how it could potentially impact their clients is one of the main factors affecting how business is conducted within a bank.” Falling interest rates typically lead to more deals and economic activity in debt capital markets, while rising interest rates have the reverse effect. However, the effects of changing interests rates are often more complex and far-reaching than you might think, Karunakaran explains, “If interest rates were to go up again, bond issuers may seek out other avenues of raising finance because issuing bonds would incur a much higher cost for them. At the same time, financial institutions that benefit from higher interest rates would have a bigger pool of reserves that they would want to use for investments, leading to more activity in the markets.” Karunakaran ends this explanation by noting, “Having said that, nobody is expecting you to know the ins and outs of how the markets function.” He reiterates, “I don’t want to scare anybody off an interest in debt capital markets!”
There is more than changing interest rates to keep on top of in this practice area. “Within the legal, regulatory landscape there are so many changes that are in the works,” Karunakaran tells me, “We help in uncertain times by keeping up with all these developments and trying to pre-empt the impact they could have on our clients.” To do this effectively, having an intimate knowledge of your clients is crucial. “We have longstanding relationships with a lot of our clients so we understand their business needs and how their organisation is structured” says Karunakaran, “Given this knowledge of how our clients function, we can pre-empt where legal developments will affect them. They are focused on keeping the business running and don’t have time to keep track of legal developments. This is how we add value.”
Meet Hogan Lovells at ‘Understanding debt capital markets — Hogan Lovells’, a virtual event taking place this afternoon (Wednesday 11 September). This event is now fully booked.
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