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Alumni

The Eversheds Sutherland Alumni Network offers access to events, webinars and other opportunities to support career growth.

There’s no such thing as a former colleague at Eversheds Sutherland. Even when you leave the firm, we think of you as an extended part of our team and look forward to welcoming you into our global Alumni Network.

Open to everyone who’s worked with us, the Eversheds Sutherland Alumni Network is designed to help you stay connected with friends you’ve made across the firm, enrich your social and professional networks and inspire you with compelling stories from around the firm.

Whatever your role or seniority, whenever or wherever you worked with us, we’d love you to join our Alumni Network and be part of the next chapter in our history.

Join our Alumni Network today

By joining this community of legal and business professionals, you will receive:

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Invitations to events, webinars and networking opportunities

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Access to LinkedIn group with over 1,400 members

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Opportunities to engage in activities such as pro bono volunteering and our Corporate Counsel Program

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Quarterly newsletters featuring updates on the firm and your former colleagues

Alumni events

Alumni events are great for networking, knowledge sharing and simply catching up with old friends. We run a range of in-person and online events across the year. We’re also happy to help organize an alumni event of your own.

Please get in touch if you'd like more information.

Alumni Leadership Team


Annalisa Bloodworth profile image

Annalisa Bloodworth
Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Oglethorpe Power Corporation

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Oliver Weerasuriya profile image

Oliver Weerasuriya
Commercial Development Lead at Shell

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Ian Gray profile image

Ian Gray
Executive Partner at Eversheds Sutherland

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Herbert Short profile image

Herbert Short
US International Partner at Eversheds Sutherland

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Alumni spotlights

Whenever our time coincided, we’re grateful for your part in our story and equally proud to feature in yours. These spotlights are intended to give a brief snapshot of how some of those stories have developed for our alumni since leaving the firm – please contact our Senior Alumni Manager Rishi Chopra if you’d like to nominate yourself or a former colleague to appear here.

The demands of the legal profession can be challenging and nowadays, there is much emphasis on mental health. Former corporate lawyer turned therapeutic yoga teacher, May Lim, spent over twenty years in private practice and in-house (including at Yahoo and Richemont) before joining Eversheds Sutherland’s Konexo arm as a consultant in Hong Kong.

May is also an urban yogini and has lived in Nepal, learning about Buddhist philosophy, meditation and yoga. As she explains, it was the most profound experience of her life.

Can you tell us about ‘Heal with May’?

Heal with May is the venture I set up in response to my calling, which is to promote self-love and acceptance through healing and connection. It offers therapeutic yoga and healing arts through my signature S.h.ě. 舍 System™, designed to heal issues in your tissues and restore flow.

My mission is to help executives and women over 40 stay juicy, healthy and peaceful so they don't struggle with burnout, accelerated aging and disconnect from their innate essence.

May Lim, lawyer turned healerMay Lim, lawyer turned healer

Not many lawyers start businesses in pursuit of their spiritual calling. How did it happen for you?

I guess when it comes to my calling, there isn’t a roadmap or clearly defined path like that of a solicitor. It took many years in the making, following one dot to another; although it didn’t all make sense to me at the time, I was guided by my intuition and faith.

Then one day, I had a profound awakening which became the pivotal moment in switching my career, giving me the courage to bite the bullet and start my healing business. All the dots which had brought me to that point began to make sense.

Why then did you enter the law?

I was brought up in a traditional Chinese family where we were encouraged to choose a professional career. I decided to be a lawyer and, at the suggestion of my high school teacher, I applied to Cambridge University and was accepted by Magdalene College to study law.

That was your first time in the UK. What challenges did you face?

Yes, and I couldn’t believe how it could get dark at 4pm! As one of very few female Asian students, part of my challenge was to adapt to a predominantly male and white environment. It wasn’t easy but I learnt how to be resilient from those circumstances. And in fact, I became the first woman cox for Magdalene's rowing team.

After Cambridge, you trained and qualified in London and Hong Kong, then went in-house shortly after?

I trained at Linklaters then joined Yahoo as its first legal corporate counsel in Asia, becoming the company’s 11 th employee in Hong Kong. It was during the internet boom when Yahoo was basically a start-up – as well as being the lawyer, I sometimes doubled up as the receptionist!

Being my first in-house experience, I learned a lot about dealing with people – building rapport and giving practical, commercial advice. Eventually I was offered my boss’s job to be Yahoo’s Asia General Counsel.

What happened next?

I told my boss I couldn’t take the job because I wanted to hang out with the monks in Nepal! The persistent inner calling to seek the ‘truth’ became something I couldn't ignore. So I made a very bold decision and turned down the promotion, quit my job, sold my Mercedes and travelled to Nepal, where I lived for two years.

How would you describe your time in Nepal?

It was the most profound experience of my life. I enrolled at the Buddhist Academy where I studied the Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy, as well as receiving teachings from my kind guru Rinpoche (which means the ‘precious one’ in Tibetan).

I also underwent a few solo retreats to put theories about meditation into embodied experience and met His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

May Lim pictured with His Holiness the Dalai LamaMay pictured with His Holiness the Dalai Lama

After Nepal, you returned to your lawyer life.

I would have stayed, but Rinpoche said to me, ‘You can’t sit in a cave forever. Your practice is to return to where you came from to test what you have realised and help all beings to your best ability.’

You then took up various in-house roles, culminating as Chief Legal Counsel, Asia Pacific for Richemont. Was that the pinnacle of your in-house career?

It was a great role. Richemont owns several of the world's leading companies in the field of luxury goods and I was mandated to build its legal operations in Asia Pacific. A highly rewarding but challenging role at the same time.

What did that do to your mental health?

To be honest, I didn’t take good care of myself then. The role was very demanding with long hours; the team was lean, so most days I worked late and far too hard, often until 3am. Over time, the stress of the job and long hours took a toll on my health – I struggled to stay balanced, and my pressure cooker nearly exploded.

Do you think the personality traits of lawyers make them more prone to stress?

For people who work in a fast-paced, high-stress and competitive environment, be it the law or another profession, if you don’t adopt a set of tools to help regulate stress, your nervous system will eventually cave in. That can lead to physical tension and chronic mental or emotional stress which can cause serious health problems.

I know this because I’ve been there. And it’s why I’m spreading such tools through my teaching – to help my corporate friends, so they aren’t overwhelmed by stress.

You were also a consultant with our Konexo service. What was that like?

It was a perfect fit, and I’m so grateful to Konexo for their support. The part-time legal role was exactly what I needed because I didn’t want a full-time return to law, but I needed to make a living.

Konexo offered me an opportunity to work three days a week, allowing me to undergo my transition from lawyer to healer. They placed me with three companies, including at Eversheds Sutherland, running the Commercial group in Hong Kong.

It was around this time you launched Heal with May?

That’s right. The three-day week gave me time and space to prepare for Heal with May, including attending intensive trainings. In 2018, I started to wind down my part-time legal work and went full-time with Heal with May.

My wish is to support my corporate comrades with simple and effective tools, so they don’t burn out and harden like I did in my corporate days. In retrospect, I was missing these tools to help me stay balanced and centred in a high-stress workplace.

So now, I want to be that missing gap by helping others regulate stress and cultivate resilience for optimum health, performance and wellbeing. I hope that is something we can all aspire to.

If you would like to find out more about May and her healing practice, visit healwithmay.com.

If you would like to add May Lim to your network, you can connect with her via LinkedIn.

Connect with May Lim on LinkedIn.

After completing a clerkship at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Annalisa joined Eversheds Sutherland in 2006. There, she primarily worked in our Atlanta Real Estate team, before transitioning to the energy space when she joined Oglethorpe in 2010.

As she explains, her time with the firm provided an excellent foundation for her current role.

What are your memories of your time with Eversheds Sutherland?

I had a really positive experience at the firm. I particularly remember relationships with the partners who mentored me; not only did they give me work, they helped to develop my craft as a lawyer.

Who were those mentors?

Jim Jordan, Mike Kerman and Victor Haley. They all showed me different pieces of the puzzle in different ways. Jim taught me the details of the practice. He was so thorough that he just bred a discipline that I still think back on today. Also, he wasn’t afraid to give tough feedback, which is a real gift.

Mike was more like a professor, teaching the fundamental legal principles. Victor was always available and always willing to give me a chance to show myself.

What set the firm apart from others, in your opinion?

The focus on quality. At Eversheds Sutherland, I learned the "right" way to practice law. Even today, as someone who is now a client, the quality of its written product or analysis is among the best of all those I receive from law firms.

What do you mean by that?

Many things, but in particular being commercial and truly understanding what clients want – differentiating between issues that are important and those that are not. As clients, we have to get the business done. Not every issue matters to the nth degree. Some firms and some lawyers make everything an issue, which is not that helpful.

How did Eversheds Sutherland influence your professional development?

As a junior associate, we were given lots of opportunities to work directly with clients. That helps build confidence, not just knowing the law, but handling client-facing tasks, such as depositions or running contentious public meetings, for example.

I still see associates from Eversheds Sutherland doing quite a bit of substantive work compared to other firms where there are more barriers to interacting with a client.

What was the motivation for you wanting to go in-house?

Honestly, I expected to stay with the firm and become a partner. Out of the blue I was approached by a client with whom I had gone to law school about taking an in-house position. I started writing my resume, but then another colleague suggested instead I talk to Oglethorpe, who was looking for an assistant GC.

Up to that point, I was working very hard. I loved my job but it was all-consuming – my social life had to fit around it. I wanted to gain some work-life balance, as well as experience the full life-cycle of a problem while embedded with my practice.

When you did go in-house, what do you remember from that transition?

For the first six months, it was a shocking adjustment. I suffered what you might call a measure of ‘intellectual loneliness’. You leave an environment surrounded by peers of equal training and intelligence with whom you can share ideas. Then suddenly, you’re on your own.

How did you get through that adjustment?

Some of it was building a different network of people who were already in-house. But I also got a lot of help from the partners at Eversheds Sutherland, some of whom I hadn’t previously come across, the ones who had previously worked with Oglethorpe – in particular, Herbert Short and Dorothy Franzoni .

What support did you get?

I knew nothing about Oglethorpe and they took the time to bring me up to speed. Nor did I know much about energy law, and again they were very helpful, putting together a mini training program for me. I’ve never forgotten that.

Actually, Herbert and Dorothy did more than that. I was worried that, as a woman, I would not be considered by the board of Oglethorpe. But they picked me as an under 40 woman. I’m sure it’s because Herbert and Dorothy helped make that move possible for me.

What about your current role as SVP and General Counsel?

I'm responsible for oversight, management, and delivery of the corporation's legal services and strategy. As a member of the project's management board, I also provide strategic leadership to our current megaproject investment in the first new nuclear plant in the United States for 30 years.

I'm a GC who chooses to practice law because I don’t only want to offer administrative oversight. I roll up my sleeves in certain areas where I can justify spending my time, which means it’s got to be the high-risk/high-dollar issues or ones that are of particular strategic importance to the organization.

What's your advice to anyone thinking of moving in-house?

Really know where you’re going. If you’re in-house, you have one client and that’s it. You’ll be surrounded by that client’s culture and values. It’s almost like a marriage. So I would encourage folks not to be so eager to take an in-house job if they fail to understand the client they’re about to wed themselves to.

Can you tell us something funny or interesting that people might not know about you?

I was an economist before I was a lawyer – not sure whether that’s funny or interesting. More interesting is that I was a former rodeo trick rider. Don’t ask me to do it today but, you know, I used to ride standing on two horses’ backs!

You like to travel as well, don't you?

It’s my favorite thing to experience the different ways people live and eat and breathe and celebrate. That’s how I get recharged. I won’t travel anywhere twice except for Italy – I’m a dual Italian citizen so I’ll always go back. Otherwise, I’m one and done and on to the next place.

If you would like to add Annalisa Bloodworth to your network, you can connect with her via LinkedIn.

Following his four years as Chairman of Eversheds Sutherland, John Heaps left to become Chairman of the Yorkshire Building Society in 2014. He opens up about his style of leadership, reflections of the firm and his proudest professional achievement.

Why did you want to become a lawyer?

I cannot say it was a childhood burning ambition. I had hopes to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. When that dream evaporated, law was the next best thing. As things turned out, I could not have asked for a better career.

What is your main focus as Chairman of the Yorkshire Building Society?

I’m ultimately responsible for the safety and soundness of the Society. I achieve that principally by ensuring we have an excellent executive team and a group of non-executives who bring great skills and challenges to the Board.

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Getting to grips with an entirely new set of issues with an entirely new group of people, who know a great deal more about financial services than I do!

How does it compare to being Chairman of Eversheds Sutherland?

At Eversheds Sutherland, I saw my role as representing the partners and helping to communicate to the wider firm its direction and values. At YBS, I have far less contact with staff. My job is to chair the Board of the Society.

Very few lawyers take up non-executive roles. Why do you think that is?

I think it’s a combination of factors that starts with personal choice. A lot of people see retirement from the law as an opportunity to do different things that time then allows. Taking on a NED role is a step into the public domain that lawyers, particularly those in private practice, often decide is not for them.

For anyone wishing to develop a second career as a non-executive, it’s important to start preparing as early as possible by taking an external role that gives experience, and also building a network of contacts who can help you when the time comes. I was very fortunate that as Eversheds Sutherland’s Chairman, I gained experience of governance issues and met some influential people who were of enormous help when I started to look for a role in earnest.

Do you miss the intellectual rigour of the law?

Yes I do. The job of an adviser, particularly a trusted adviser, is very special. I have to remember to suppress those instincts when legal issues arise at the YBS Board.

John Heaps, Litigation teamJohn (far left, second row from the front) at a Leeds Litigation group meeting in the mid-90s

How would you describe your leadership style?

I was told early on by a very wise person that leadership is as much to do with your demeanour as it is with what you say. So I have always tried to remain positive and cheerful whatever the circumstances. It’s also worth being clear about what you stand for and having a few simple messages that people will recall. I defined my time as Chairman by the phrase, “the spirit of Eversheds”. I think people understood what I meant.

What is the most vivid memory of your legal career?

That would be when I was training in 1976, turning up over an hour late for a case before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning. When the court rose for the lunch adjournment, I spluttered my excuses to the Partner, Nimble Thompson, and expected a severe stripping down.

But he just turned to me and said, “John…forget it,” by which he meant he couldn’t really care if I had been captured by Martians. This was the Court of Appeal. This was Lord Denning! It was a very effective lesson about the importance of being on time which I never forgot.

John Heaps younger photoJohn pictured in 2001

What is your proudest achievement at the firm?

I guess people will remember me most for introducing a methodology for handling litigation called Early Case Assessment. But undoubtedly my proudest achievement was being invited to join the six-strong team that formed the Integration Board in 1999, which led to the financial integration of the six firms that came within the Eversheds fold.

While I’m very proud that I was appointed the Chairman – looking back, had it not been for the Integration Board, the Eversheds Sutherland firm we know today may never have existed.