How to work a room

To celebrate International Women's Day, OWL (the Faculty of Law's network for graduates of the University of Oxford) and Oxford 10 (the official young community of Oxford University) have joined forces. We are pleased to invite you to our joint networking event and panel discussion: 'How to work a room'.

Confirmed speakers include:

Christine Fairchild - Director of Alumni Relations, University of Oxford

Christine was appointed Oxford University’s Director of Alumni Relations in March 2011.

At Oxford, the Office of Alumni Relations supports links between alumni of the collegiate University and Oxford through a dynamic offering of events, resources and engagement vehicles. The University has more than 200,000 known alumni, including over 44,000 in 188 countries outside the UK.

Prior to coming to Oxford, Ms Fairchild worked in various capacities at the Harvard Business School; namely, Director of Alumni Relations and, most recently, Executive Director of External Relations where she oversaw development, alumni relations, and alumni communications. Before arriving at HBS, she worked at the Harvard Art Museums for ten years in the areas of membership, development, special events and public education. She was educated at Connecticut College in the US where she graduated with a BA in Asian Studies. She has volunteered for Hospice of Cambridge, Mount Auburn Hospital, Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic, Learning by Design, Concord Academy and Connecticut College and currently serves on the boards of Oxford Limited and Malvern College. She is a Hugh Price Fellow at Jesus College and a Senior Associate of Somerville College.

Liz Heathfield - Head of Business Development (Groups) for Pinsent Masons LLP
Liz leads the business development for the major practice areas in global law firm Pinsent Masons LLP. With a law background, she had a career in legal and tax publishing before embarking on senior marketing advisory roles for the Bar, for professional bodies including the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and for law firms. Liz coaches professionals at all levels in networking skills – as it’s been described, “helping people to be great at the stuff they dread”. She will help demystify the process and share strategies to make business encounters more effective, more rewarding – and maybe even more enjoyable.

Fatema Orjela - Partner at Kirkland & Ellis and founder of Women in London Law (WILL)

Fatema is a private equity partner in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP. She has experience on all areas of corporate law, in particular the structuring of private equity deals and leveraged buyouts, strategic mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, equity growth investments, equity and debt restructurings, and management equity plans, as well as related advisory work. Fatema is an alumna of Brasenose College. Fatema is a co-founder of Women in Law London (WILL): an active network with over 1,600 members from 350 different law firms and companies across London. WILL aims to promote and engage the next generation of women leaders in law. It does so in a variety of ways, including providing members with networking opportunities and talks/ workshops and through engaging with law firm management on issues facing women in the profession. WILL has gained support from high profile speakers such as the Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf and Shami Chakrabati. It has also secured a research partnership with Kings College London, through which it was able to conduct a large survey of its members who reported their experiences of the profession and their career aspirations. In connection with her work with Kirkland & Ellis and with WILL, Fatema has spoken at diversity conferences and events. Fatema is also an advisory member of OWL.

Piers Prichard Jones - Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Piers is a corporate partner in Freshfields’ London office. He specialises in mergers and acquisitions and acts for a variety of clients, including corporates, financial sponsors and financial institutions, across a range of industries. Piers co-heads Freshfields' M&A practice in London and has advised on many of the landmark M&A transactions in the UK in recent years. He is a regular speaker at conferences on corporate finance related matters. He has been with the firm for 17 years and was educated at Oxford University.

Claire Wright- Graduate Recruitment Partner, Allen & Overy LLP

Claire is the Graduate Recruitment Partner in Allen & Overy's London office. She specialises in outsourcing and transactions in the technology and telecoms sectors. She has a particular focus on the financial services sector. She also advises on various commercial transactions and arrangements including those relating to private labelling arrangements, card processing arrangements and payment systems. Claire's technology experience includes advising on IT infrastructure projects, acquisition and supply of IT projects and software including electronic trading platforms, electronic banking and ecommerce. She advises on a wide range of communications related projects both in London and internationally. Claire is a UCL graduate.

Chair: Ariana Adjani

Ariana is a member of the Executive Committee of Oxford10. An inventor and patent holder, she is also a co-founder of Fine Treatment, an innovative medical devices business. An alumna of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics, she has worked at Shell, HSBC, NGP and Eurasia House International enjoying a career in the energy sector, finance, private equity and consulting prior to moving into the healthcare industry.

A drinks reception will follow the panel discussion where you will have the opportunity to practise your networking skills! We are grateful to Pinsent Masons LLP for generously hosting and supporting this event.