In profile: Legal 500 UK Key Lawyer Sandie Lyne

Legal 500 UK Key Lawyer Sandie Lyne was recently promoted to partner at law firm Ogier. Since joining the firm in 2014, she has built a busy practice encompassing all aspects of commercial and financial dispute resolution, working on some of the highest profile offshore disputes.

In 2017 Sandie was seconded to Ogier's Cayman Islands office to work on the Ocean Rig case, one of the largest contested schemes of arrangement in Cayman and one of the largest restructurings in the world, which resulted in an exchange by creditors of approximately $3.7 billion of debt for new equity.

"What struck me was how easy it was to slot into the life of an office which is thousands of miles away from home. You really get a tangible sense of what it means to be working in a global business when you can walk into an office in a completely different time-zone yet still have that seamless transition," said Sandie about her secondment experience with Ogier.

Closer to home, Sandie advised the trustee in the recent Court of Appeal case In the Matter of the K trust, which had significant implications around the instruments and principles that are applied in Guernsey relevant to the construction of trust instruments. 

Sandie's contribution to Guernsey's legal industry extends beyond her fee earning work. She has served two terms as president and now serves as vice-president of the Guernsey International Legal Association (GILA) and members of STEP Guernsey will be able to hear her speak at an upcoming lecture in April.

Within Ogier she co-leads on the Diversity and Inclusion jurisdictional group in Guernsey alongside practice partner Christopher Jones.

"There is work to be done, but what's clear is that we have the culture in place to do it. Change doesn't happen overnight, but the commitment is there from Ogier's leadership to embed a D&I mindset across the firm, and make sure fair structures and procedures are in place so everyone at Ogier has the opportunity to succeed. We know that it's the day-to-day interactions that have the biggest impact on how included people feel at work, which is why we are focussing on the broader educational and cultural piece too."

A focus on building an inclusive, supportive culture is nothing new at Ogier. "What I've appreciated here is this focus on people, their wellbeing and their professional development. During lockdown we have pulled together and supported each other, and we already had that commitment to flexible working embedded in our culture which has proven so important at this time. Ogier supports people to work in the way that works best for them. That has certainly been my experience with the firm, and an aspect of working here which has only strengthened during these challenging times."