Bomi Lee knew she wanted to specialize in M&A after working on two deals as a mid-level associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in 2014 and 2015, she said on this week’s Drinks With The Deal podcast. “I liked the strategy and the negotiations and the chess game element of M&A, the immediacy of M&A,” Lee said.

She decided to focus on M&A in the technology sector, and in 2015 she moved to Fenwick & West LLP, where the first deal she worked on was Symantec Corp.’s $7 billion sale of Veritas Technologies Corp. to an investor consortium led by Carlyle Group LP. She billed 300 hours on the carve-out transaction in her first month at Fenwick, which greatly eased her transition to the firm.

She became a partner at Fenwick in 2019.

“The title matters,” she said. “Being called a partner changes how associates interface with you, how other partners interface with you and most importantly how clients interface with you.”

And, she added, “My own perspective changed.”

Since making partner, Lee has had two children. “It is hard to juggle being an attorney and being a parent,” she said. “Our jobs are very demanding, and being a parent is very demanding.” The ability to work from home has allowed lawyers to do a better job of balancing those two roles.

Listen to the podcast with Bomi Lee below:

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