Sarah Griggs

Principal, Goldberg Kohn Ltd.

Sarah Griggs is a principal in Goldberg Kohn Ltd.’s Commercial Finance Group and focuses her practice on secured transactions and commercial finance. 

Sarah represents banks, finance companies and other financial institutions in a large variety of asset-based and cash-flow debt finance transactions, including acquisition finance transactions, split-lien transactions, working capital facilities, second-lien financings, mezzanine financings and broadly syndicated transactions, as well as workouts and restructurings. Her experience extends to all aspects of a commercial finance transaction, including structuring, drafting and negotiating loan documentation for initial transactions, loan modifications, forbearance agreements, debtor-in-possession facilities and exit facilities.  Sarah has structured complex finance transactions involving borrowers in a wide range of industries, including software and technology, restaurants, retail, manufacturing and business services.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry? 

I would encourage women starting out in the industry to focus building and developing their network both within their institutions and in the industry.  Not only do these relationships help advance one’s career, they also make the day-to-day work more enjoyable. Nowadays, there is a lot of emphasis put on finding a senior mentor (which is very important), but I encourage young attorneys starting out to also focus on building a varied web of contacts and relationships (e.g., peers at both your institution and in your industry and individuals you supervise) and not just focus on obtaining a senior mentor.  My network of peers and members of my team have been an invaluable resource and support throughout my career and have been integral to my success. 

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career? 

I wish I had known to trust myself more.  At the beginning of my career, I doubted and second-guessed myself constantly.  On a call, if someone stated that something was incorrect or expressed an opinion contrary to mine, my first instinct was that I was wrong and that the other person was correct.  After the call, I would go back to double-check a document provision or email correspondence and the vast majority of the time I was correct.  Over the years, I have learned to trust myself and speak up to voice my point of view and opinions.  A lot of this came with time and experience, but I encourage young attorneys to trust themselves and have more confidence in their abilities.  

How do you balance work/personal time? 

As a mother of two young children with a full-time working spouse, I am still working on finding that balance.  Some days are better than others.  The one helpful lesson I have learned is to not assume you can’t handle your work commitment and family commitments without giving it a try first.  Before I had children, I would always think “I don’t know how I can do this job with kids.”  I thought about pre-emptively making some career changes because I wasn’t sure I could be a mother in my career.  However, after the birth of my first child, on the advice of a trusted mentor, I decided to give full-time working motherhood a try.  I would never know unless I tried.  I hired some extra help, started getting my groceries delivered (pre-COVID) and managed to find a balance that worked for myself and my family.  Again, I significantly doubted my ability to handle a second kid, but after the birth of my second daughter, I once again made some adjustments and was able to find a balance that worked.  As my children continue to grow and my career progresses, I am sure there will be numerous many more adjustments and re-balancings in my future, but moving forward my initial assumption will be that I can do it rather than that I can’t.