Giorgio Vanzanelli (Banking and Finance Law, 1998) reflects on his journey at CCLS and its impact on his legal career.
This year I am celebrating my 17th work anniversary as a partner in Legance, one of the top law firms in Italy, and I still have a great and fond memories of my time at Queen Mary. The recent Founders’ Day Celebration and the Conferment of Honorary Degrees to former students was a great opportunity for me to re-immerse myself in the magic and intense spirit of Queen Mary.
While working for an Italian law firm in London, back in 1998 I got a LLM in Banking and Finance Law at Queen Mary and Westfield College (as it was called then). I was a part-time student and, as such, very busy with my legal work, this was the first and, actually, the only precious opportunity in my life to meet and engage with people coming from all parts of the world in an extraordinary, multicultural environment.
When I studied in Università degli Studi di Milano, the university where I graduated from before moving to London in 1996, it was virtually impossible to meet anybody coming from a place other than another Italian city so at that time there was no discussion about diversity, inclusion and the like. This is despite the fact that the university was located in a city like Milan – which, in my opinion, was and is the only Italian city most exposed to foreign commerce and cultural impact.
To pass through the entrance of Queen Mary was like entering into a new world where Italians were suddenly a small minority and any discussion with anybody could become the opening of a door on a different culture with different values and perspectives. To study at Queen Mary changed my life forever not only for the boost to my legal career once back to Italy, but for me to realize (or at least guess) the size and beauty of the world around me.
A further input and stimulus that I took home from Queen Mary was the appeal and excitement of dealing with so many bright and motivated students and the urge of having a positive impact on the world.
While studying in London I moved from a big (at least where compared to Italian standards) Italian law firm to Freshfields – again like a jump from a small island to a continent – and had the opportunity to work with top business lawyers; I remained with Freshfields until a year after my return to Milan and then I went back to the Italian firm which originally took me to London in 1996.
My final essay at Queen Mary was about the Italian regulatory framework governing financial markets and this led me to become a transactional lawyer working on M&A and equity capital markets transactions.