Q+A with Dragana Radojevic

August.01.2017

Dragana Radojevic worked as part of Orrick’s M&A and Private Equity team from 2006-2014 in our Paris office. Dragana joined BNP Paribas in 2014 as senior legal counsel in international M&A. Today she is head of M&A legal for a BNP Paribas subsidiary specializing in personal finance. In addition, Dragana was co-owner and legal counsel for SEPAGE, a technology start-up offering a unique travel recommendation engine, which won Next Tourisme’s best technology innovation prize in 2014. (SEPAGE was acquired by Travelsoft in May.)

1. What do you like most about your job?

I love working for an international company. This shapes the members on my team, who are multicultural, and the global nature of the projects that I work on. The projects are also always innovative and interesting.

2. What are the challenges of your job that are different from working at a firm?

The in-house lawyer must be business-minded – know the internal processes, decision-making and products/strategy of its company and internal clients. While it’s a plus if the external advisor can do the same, it’s not a requirement in the same way as it is for the in-house lawyer. For my job, I don’t have the ability to be less business-sensitive or maintain a purely technical approach. When making decisions, I have to make the best choice for my company and internal clients.

3. What’s something you learned at Orrick that is helpful to you now?

Orrick puts a premium on providing innovative solutions to its clients. This approach was exemplified by partners I worked for, and this is something I still apply in negotiations – “think out of the box” to provide “win-win” solutions. The partners that hired me – Saam Golshani and the late Véronique Roulaet – used this approach, as did other partners I worked closely with, including David Syed and George Rigo.

4. How do you see the practice of law changing?

Though legal advice has become commodified in some areas, I still believe that a special confidence exists between the legal advisor (whether internal or external) and client. So I do not believe that A.I. will replace lawyers in the future! Our profession will change, but will always be needed.

5. What are you doing outside of your job that you’re excited about?

I am raising a highly self-aware (not to say stubborn) 3.5 year-old, which is a full-time job in itself! I am a frequent visitor to Parisian museums, for their extremely rich and diverse yearlong exhibitions and events. And I am proud of my (modest) contribution to the philanthropic community through my support of the Louvre, where I also take a course in the history of art.