Judy Reich

Executive Partner, Drink Biddle & Reath LLP

Biography:

Judy Reich, a well-respected member of the lending community, is Drinker Biddle’s executive partner responsible for the firm’s business and regulatory practices, in addition to her corporate finance practice. She was recently honored at the Executive Women of New Jersey’s 2018 Salute to Policy Makers Gala. The organization is the leading senior-level executive women’s organization in the state — committed to increasing the presence of women on corporate boards and in top business leadership positions.

Judy advises administrative agents in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of all types of commercial loan transactions, from widely syndicated, multicurrency credit facilities to fully secured asset-based loans.  In addition, she represents lenders in the restructuring and modification of secured, unsecured, asset-based, real estate, construction and subordinated loans.  Judy also has experience representing private equity investors in structuring, negotiating and documenting financing agreements with senior and subordinated lenders usually in connection with the acquisition of portfolio companies. Judy represents public and private companies in connection with senior and subordinated debt facilities, including DIP facilities, and in the restructuring of debt. In addition to representing senior lenders, Judy represents subordinated lenders in numerous financing transactions. Judy drafts and negotiates loan and security agreements, debt and equity purchase agreements, intercreditor agreements and warrant agreements, and also has counselled mezzanine lenders in workout and bankruptcy proceedings.

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

First, listen, observe, and ask questions. These are vital skills that will serve you throughout your career and are essential in the industry. In the beginning, the best way to learn is to pay close attention to what your colleagues, your clients, other professionals, the lawyers, and business people on the other side of a transaction do and say. When and where appropriate, ask questions of your colleagues, customers, and clients (people you trust).

Experienced business people and lawyers want to help you, guide you, teach you. Not all of what they say will be gold, but there will be nuggets. There is no time in your career (or your life for that matter) when you will not benefit by being a great listener. Given the opportunity, people will tell you what they want and what they need, their goals, their concerns, their challenges. The deeper your understanding of all of these, the better you can be at helping get to the right result for your client or customer.

Second, take ownership of your career from the start. Don’t be a passive observer. Learn the industry. Take on responsibility. Seek out opportunity. This does not mean taking the lead on everything right away. Working as part of a team is going to be important at all stages of your career—that will be your most important lesson at first. Within the team there will be tasks that you can own from the start. When you complete those tasks, ask for others. For example, you may identify an area of expertise that no one in your organization has; if you can develop that expertise, you are on your way to owning your career.

Finally, care. Care about your work product. Care about the people with and for whom you work. Care about your customers or clients. Care about the results you get. All of this should matter to you.

What is your approach/advice to change in the workplace?

Be open to change. There will always be a need to adapt and adjust. It is human to be cautious, and you will need to move on from that or be left behind.

I learned to embrace (or at least not fear) change the hard way. When my mentor announced he was leaving the firm, I panicked. It took me a long time to recover from that and some other challenges I was facing at the time.  I couldn’t have known it at the time, but it all worked out for the best. That experience taught me to have a much calmer approach to change. I do not know that all change presents an opportunity, but it might.

What do you enjoy most about your role? Least?

I love meeting and getting to know and work with a diverse range of people in my organization. And more than that, I enjoy creating connections between people. When new colleagues join the firm, I like to suggest at least two people they should meet. It helps us all integrate and become better at what we do.

Least is a “no brainer”: Meetings, endless meetings.