Page 97 - NYLJ Professional Excellence 2021

on the spot by quietly observing their
technique. Similarly, I encountered the
business world for the first time when
I was a summer associate at Jones Day
and committed myself to learning about
it through reading the Wall Street Jour-
nal and other news sources.
I believe that obstacles can present
a tremendous opportunity for growth.
During a period when the economy was
lackluster, I started searching for any
new developments that caught my eye.
These efforts led me to reading the Users’
Guide to the ISDA 2002 Master Agreement
Dickson Chin while on a long plane ride. Soon after, Jennifer Daly
a client asked me to assist on a wind
PARTNER AT JONES DAY energy swap and together we created PARTNER AT KING & SPALDING
the tracking account provisions that are
still widely used by market participants
Q&A What are some of your today. Q&A What are some of your
proudest achievements
proudest achievements
from the past year? I am proud of the What is the best advice for younger from the past year? Without ques-
efforts of our Jones Day team in assist- attorneys looking to advance their tion, it was the launch of The Hub. It’s
ing ISDA with the publication of the REC own innovative ideas or visions? a bold goal, but we are really looking to
Annex. It is wonderful to be a part of Become a problem solver. The starting change the way law firms engage with
ISDA’s broader efforts to facilitate the point is to focus on technique and keep their clients and community. With the
transition to a sustainable economy by your eye on the big picture. Hub, I believe we are well on our way.
offering an industry standard agreement Whether you are drafting a difficult Feedback has been outstanding. We’re
for the purchase and sale of RECs. I am concept or preparing to give an impor- on something like over 600 devices in
also grateful for the opportunity to work tant presentation, concentrate on your just a few months, and have gotten feed-
on cutting edge renewables transac- goal and utilize all your efforts in over- back from strangers around the globe
tions, helping clients to meet the renew- coming obstacles, even if they seem asking for more.
able energy and carbon reduction priori- daunting. Like music or sports, you One of my clients, a director at
ties of their ESG targets. It is especially can attain tremendous heights from KKR, said he’d never seen anything
satisfying to work with others towards observing with great attention to detail like this from a law firm and that “the
reaching meaningful societal goals. the specific technique and methods of ability to get real time market intel
others who excel at their practice of law. plus a ton of to-the-point content on
What, if any, obstacles stood in the With these tools, you can then relent- the phone is a game changer.” Hearing
way of your innovation, and how did lessly practice and prepare for your own things like that fills me with pride and
you overcome them? I was raised in Chi- big moment. gratitude for the support I’ve received
natown in New York to immigrant par- I also learned from an exceptional from King & Spalding to pursue this
ents who worked at less than minimum in-house counsel of a client to always dream.
wage. My personal journey has been “helicopter out” and understand the
an important factor in my professional broader context of any situation. You What, if any, obstacles stood in the
odyssey. I grew up with limited access should strive to address the root cause way of your innovation, and how did
to opportunities and mentors. Because of a problem to systematically prevent you overcome them? I knew noth-
of these limitations, I was forced to and solve for underlying issues, rather ing about how to build an app going
teach myself many essential skills. For than supplying ad hoc remedies or put- into it. This was very much an exer-
example, I encountered a complete table ting out superficial fires. cise in learning on the fly. There were
setting for the first time in my life when Once you have applied these funda- probably six or seven ideas of mine
parents of my middle school best friend mental skills as a problem solver, you that failed entirely or got re-worked
invited me to a fancy restaurant and I will have established the building blocks before we ended up with a finished prod-
taught myself to use a knife and fork for innovation. uct. Everything takes longer than you

Photos: Jones Day; King & Spalding | October 2021 95