Jennifer St. John Yount

Partner, Paul Hastings

Biography:

Jennifer St. John Yount is the chair of the Paul Hastings Finance and Restructuring practice. Jennifer has practiced in the field of asset-based lending and commercial finance most of her career. She practiced in Los Angeles for over 15 years before moving to our New York office in 2015 to build out the firm’s asset-based lending and commercial finance practice into the east coast and globally.

Through Jennifer’s leadership, our global asset-based lending and private credit practice has grown significantly over the past few years. Jennifer’s leadership is built on understanding clients’ business goals and providing solutions that satisfy those goals. A clear and recent example of this is the $1 billion asset-based lending facility that Jennifer led to finance the merger of Bass Pro and Cabela’s.

Shortly after arriving in New York, Jennifer implemented substantive breakfast briefings, in which a panel of experts discuss and advise client relative to “top of mind” issues. Topics have included Healthcare, Retail, and the convergence of the Large Cap and Middle markets. Most recently, Jennifer assembled a panel of banks, private credit funds, financial advisors, and real estate experts to discuss the rapidly changing retail industry.

What kind of role has mentoring and/or sponsorship played in your career?

My best mentors were men and women who set the bar very high, challenged me to exceed even my own expectations, and gave me frequent constructive criticism and positive feedback. My best sponsors were men and women who told me the truth about what it really takes to succeed and who took the time to understand my goals and open doors to help me achieve those goals.

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

I would advise women to focus on a few key ingredients for a successful career.

First, become expert in your field. As a new lawyer, if you are intentional and deliberate in your focus and pursuit of expertise, you will get there much faster. Don’t just hope that you will absorb the information over time. Rather prepare a plan on how best to acquire the knowledge you need to become expert and discuss that plan with the senior lawyers at your firm. Ask their advice on how they became expert. Research, read, and write frequently. Make sure you understand and can explain to another person the rationale behind the structure of your transaction and key terms and conditions in your loan documentation. Over time you will become the “go-to” person in your organization and your field. Being irreplaceable in your business leads to a solid career trajectory.

Second, identify men and women at your company and in your industry who will champion your career, present you

Third, form a network of clients and colleagues. The lifeblood of a professional career is the quality of your network. We get opportunities through our networks. We get ideas, advice, and client leads.

Fourth, remember that some of the most important capabilities women need to thrive are resilience, grit, and confidence.

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

I wished that I had fully appreciated the value of using a network to create opportunities for myself. I wish that I had volunteered more often to write articles and give presentations on a topic in my field. And that I had utilized these writing and speaking opportunities earlier in my career to find ways to add value for clients and colleagues.

I also wish I knew about organizations such as the SFNET that support and promote women. The SFNET Women in Commercial Finance Committee has been fabulously successful and a wonderful forum to connect with so many professional women.

What do you think the industry could do to attract and retain the best and the brightest today?

I think we could focus on the fact that our industry is one of unlimited opportunities – opportunities for professional growth, opportunities to meet industry leaders who care about the future, and opportunities to learn about developments in the law, the market, structures, and terms.

Tell us something about yourself that may surprise people.

My dad was raised in Indianapolis and was a huge Indy 500 fan. I would spend time at the race track, and I love cars!