Ji Hye You

Partner, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Biography:

Ji Hye is a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel in the Finance Group. She focuses on representing agents, lenders and borrowers in a wide range of domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including asset-based and cash-flow facilities, acquisition and leveraged finance facilities, working capital facilities and subordinated debt financings. Her most recent transactions include representing a private equity fund in a $200-million senior secured financing facility to support the construction of a major New York City tourist attraction; a foreign bank in a $240-million working capital credit facility to a refiner and retailer of petroleum products; a private equity fund in a $195-million split-collateral financing facility to a supplier of home building products; a portfolio company of a global investment firm, as borrower, in a $160-million senior secured credit facility; and a global manufacturing services company, as borrower, in a $208-million restructuring credit facility. Ji Hye was named a “Rising Star” by New York Super Lawyers and was selected to serve on The American Lawyer’s inaugural Young Lawyer Editorial Board. She received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.S., with distinction, from Cornell University.

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

Invest in your career and your well-being. At work, go beyond the specific tasks assigned to you, ask questions, and seek challenging work. Constantly think about what you should be doing to further advance your skill set and ways you can exceed expectations. You will find your work to be more interesting and enjoyable, and it will not go unrecognized within your organization.  Regardless of what your future plans may be, focus on becoming a great lawyer. The skills you learn in becoming a great lawyer can be applied in any role in any industry. Also, find a mentor — someone within your organization that you connect with professionally and personally. Realize that it’s on you to find your mentor and that it takes time and effort to find one. You will most definitely need at least one, so you are better off starting earlier rather than later.

It’s one of the best advices I received when I was a junior associate, and it rings true even today. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.” You need to take care of yourself.  Find something you are passionate about – be it hitting the gym, taking art or music classes etc. Whatever it may be – you need to find a way to let your mind free up from work. I had a rotating list of activities that I pursued over the years which helped me from getting burnt out at work. It’s hard to make the time for such activities, but if you try, you would be surprised at how much time you can carve out from here and there. But first, you need to recognize that your well-being is important!

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

When I was starting out, I didn’t think I would be at a law firm for more than a couple of years or even in NYC or in the US for that matter.  As it turns out, I am at the same law firm in its NYC office for 11-plus years.  If I was more focused on the present, rather than focusing on what I thought was going to happen in my life in the next couple of years, I would have been a more active member of my firm and industry. You can’t predict the future so focus on what’s going on right now, be present and deal with life changes as they unfold.

How do you balance work/personal time?

It’s not easy, but I make a conscious effort not to constantly feel guilty.  If I’m busy at work and I can’t tuck in my child at night as often as I would like to, or if there’s an important school event and I need to schedule a work call around the event, I used to get very frustrated and feel guilty at the same time.  It took me some time to realize that this is all a balancing act, and it helps to first come to terms with the fact that you cannot please everyone in your life at any given point in time.  And to be perfectly frank, I sleep less!