When M&A veteran Karen Davies first started out in law, she was one of only a few women following the corporate route, and had little in the way of female role models. She joined Ashurst as a corporate partner in 2012. She has served as a member of the Ashurst Board since 2017 and was appointed Ashurst global chair in 2021. Prior to the chair role, she also led Ashurst’s corporate division in the U.K. and is widely acknowledged as one of the leading M&A lawyers in London.
What drew you to becoming a lawyer?
It was either lawyer or doctor, and the reasoning and debate side won out, so I ended up choosing law. I did do science A-levels, which I loved but halfway through, I realised that it wasn’t right for me. So I went for law.
If you’d indulged a passion instead, what would that have looked like?
I think now looking back, if you said to me what would you want to do, I’d love to be team principal in Formula 1. There isn’t a female team principal at the moment.
I love Formula 1. I’ve always followed it and we do a lot of work for McLaren – I’m the client relationship partner for them. They took us out for a ride in Silverstone in one of their top cars once. As a passenger, I did about 185mph around Silverstone. That was fantastic.
Who has been the biggest female influence on your career?
