Linklaters
Agata Siuchninska
27 May 2025
Agata Siuchninska, capital markets managing associate at Linklaters, speaks with Daniel Tison about “flexing creative muscles” to solve legal problems and learning from day-to-day interactions
Image: Agata Siuchninska
Can you tell me about your journey into the securities finance industry?
I was initially interested in financial law because it seemed to combine both verbal and quantitative reasoning, and doing various internships across London validated this assumption. From there, it was a relatively straight path through the Linklaters training contract — rotating across three finance seats and a secondment to the firm's internal tech startup — to qualify as an associate in the derivatives team.
During law school, I also did a stint at a fintech startup — which has now grown up to be the largest challenger bank in the UK — so it has been great to see a mix of approaches to doing business so early in my career.
As a young professional, what aspects of your role or the industry do you find most exciting?
It is definitely the constant change across the industry, be that new laws, new industry standards, or changes in the market conditions. Change really forces you to learn something new every day, which is exactly what, I think, the early years of your career are for.
Having to be adaptable as a business also means that we do a lot of product-focused thinking, instead of just pure legal work, to make sure that we offer pragmatic solutions to our clients. I really enjoy this because it allows you to flex your creative muscles and really understand the business angle of the legal problems that you are solving.
Many companies offer various training and development opportunities for their employees. How has your company supported your growth?
Linklaters' reputation for its training is really well-deserved, and there are plenty of development opportunities at every stage of your career. The firm makes a lot of effort to develop you as a business person, not just a good technical lawyer. For example, I have recently been part of a women's career coaching programme, which was important in building leadership and management skills, and has expanded my network across all corners of the firm.
What I particularly appreciate about my team is that learning is not just a structured process that you have to sit through every now and again. People here are always more than happy to explain things, share ideas, and offer support, so a lot of the learning happens as part of your normal day-to-day interactions.
What misconceptions about working in the financial industry have you encountered, and how do you address these challenges?
I think there is a common perception — perhaps from pop culture — that there is a particular type of person that you have to be to work in finance. I have certainly not found that to be the case, and I have come across a huge variety of people in terms of personalities, backgrounds, and working styles. People are also very serious about their work, which is to be expected, but they take themselves far less seriously than a lot of people probably think!
Looking ahead, where do you see yourself in the next five years in terms of your career goals and aspirations?
I will continue to develop my technical legal and market knowledge, and use that to build stronger relationships with clients. I find that aspect of the job to be very rewarding, and there really is something great about being the person trusted by clients to answer their difficult questions.
I am also keen to capitalise on my background in technology to find better and more efficient ways of doing things, be that on specific projects or across the team more generally. Exploring techy solutions to legal problems is really fun, but it is also beneficial to our clients and the business, and there has never been a better time to be interested in tech.
Finally, I firmly believe that I am where I am in my career thanks to the support of more senior colleagues, and I would love to now step into that role myself for more junior members of the team.
What advice do you have for other young professionals aspiring to pursue a career in your industry?
Be curious about everything you do — ask questions, read about it, figure out why it works the way it does. I find that the more you engage with a job like this, the better you do it and the more you get out of it.
I think you also need to prioritise going out of your comfort zone. This is where you really accelerate your learning, give yourself the opportunity to be noticed, and build solid relationships.
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