Samir Ahuja

Associate, Blank Rome LLP

40 Under 40 Category: Legal Services

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Message from Samir Ahuja

Biography:

Samir Ahuja is an associate in Blank Rome’s Finance, Restructuring and Bankruptcy Practice Group in New York. Samir concentrates his practice on finance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. He represents investment banks and financial institutions in connection with acquisition and working capital financing transactions, including asset-based lending and leveraged finance transactions, FAL facilities, fund financing transactions, and debt restructurings. Samir has extensive experience in technology finance and unitranche transactions, and has worked on numerous cross-border transactions with borrowers, guarantors and collateral in over 40 jurisdictions. 

Samir previously served as a judicial intern for the Honorable John J. Hughes of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and interned for the Enforcement Division of the New York Stock Exchange. He has been involved in civic and community groups, including among others Shree Bidada Sarvodaya Trust, where he assisted physicians in underprivileged village elementary schools in Gujarat, India to provide healthcare education and evaluations, including preparing and presenting seminars/workshops so that students could learn skills necessary to maintain ongoing health.  

How have you managed to stay in touch with colleagues and clients during this time of working remotely? 

It is, to say the least, an unprecedented time in our professional and personal lives. I’m sure you have seen the usual work-from-home tips and used Zoom and Microsoft Teams with family, friends and, potentially, clients. Although it’s been difficult, it’s still necessary to find a way to maintain company culture and relationships while also fighting loneliness and isolation during the Coronavirus pandemic. Along the way, I’ve learned some techniques that are especially useful. The first couple of weeks working from home, I appreciated my new virtual “commute” to work. It was amazing. I woke up and I was already in my office. With all the saved time, I could sleep, read the daily news or a book, and catch up on my latest TV obsession. However, I quickly learned that I needed to reinvent that time to be more productive. What do I mean? I now use that “commute” time to set up virtual meetings, coffee breaks, and/or calls with colleagues and clients alike. Now, with my new schedule, I have a set time daily where I am actively looking to build upon my relationships. I’ve also begun to develop my relationships with my colleagues and clients to help liven up the slower moments. Let’s face it, Zoom calls and coffee meetings can become mundane and dull, even under normal circumstances. As a result, to come up with creative ideas, I have put in the effort to understand my colleagues’ and clients’ interests outside the office so that we could connect on a more personal note (for example, we have set up intimate classes to make fun cocktails or bake bread together). Through this pandemic, I’ve learned the importance of maintaining relationships, both in my professional life and my personal life. 

How would you encourage young professionals to become more involved in their community or volunteer? How have these activities outside of work helped shape your professional life? 

Some of my proudest memories are not what I accomplished in the office, but rather the service projects I participate in outside of it. As a mentor to talented underserved youth at my temple and with a local nonprofit, I attempt to make an impact both in my community and the corporate world. To this day, students I have worked with call to share some of their great accomplishments. My achievements at work are dwarfed by the satisfaction I get being a small part of these kids fulfilling their goals. I quickly realized that they are not the only ones benefiting from the experience. I have come away with a completely new set of skills. For example, I have been forced to learn and develop new leadership skills, communicate more effectively, and serve as an effective teacher and mentor, all of which have benefited me at work and in my overall professional life. It would be so much easier for me to say, ‘I would love to volunteer but I simply have too much on my plate.’ The reward I receive from these service opportunities make me glad that I don’t. There are a lot of exciting opportunities out there to volunteer and I am sure if you look, you will find something that you enjoy (and help yourself obtain the skills you need to grow in your profession along the way).