They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 - Vanessa Jackson of Davis Polk

Please describe two of your most substantial, recent wins in practice.

I had worked on airline-related financings throughout my career, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, there was so much uncertainty everywhere, which led to questions about whether the airline industry would survive.

Airline travel came to an abrupt stop—planes were left grounded, and all aspects of the global travel and leisure economy were at a standstill. Airlines were hit incredibly hard as their businesses suffered from planes’ inability to take flight; yet these companies nonetheless had significant ongoing operating costs that resulted in high levels of daily cash burn.

I’m incredibly proud of my work during this time, securing financings for Delta, LATAM and Aeroméxico, which totaled more than $14 billion of financing that allowed these companies to navigate a historically challenging time. With each of these transactions, it felt as though my work directly impacted our shared, global society’s ability to emerge from the pandemic stronger and prepared to thrive.

I also recently represented a global bank in a $14 billion financing to AbbVie Inc., a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company developing innovative, advanced therapies for some of the world’s most complex and critical conditions. The financing facilitated AbbVie’s acquisitions of ImmunoGen, Inc. and Cerevel Therapeutics.

What is the most important lesson you learned as a first-year attorney and how does it inform your practice today?

It is critical to always stay intellectually curious, to never lose sight of your client’s interests, to always remember that first impressions are lasting impressions and to practice in a way that is authentic to who you are.

The practice of law is ever evolving, and in order to keep up, you need to have a genuine interest in the subject matter and remain focused on understanding how changes in the practice will impact your clients. Being available and responsive is a big piece of this.

From very early on in my career, it was clear that you can make yourself stand out simply by being responsive. This is as true today as it was when I started practicing. If you make a good first impression, which largely hinges on “getting the small things right,” you can successfully build rapport and trust that will last for years.

The authenticity piece was hard to understand as a junior associate, but it has become more and more important as I’ve worked to define my practice. Being able to feel comfortable in your own skin and valued for the diversity of ideas and perspectives that you bring to the table, is invaluable. It drives me every day to push myself to greater heights and to hopefully leave my mark for those associates who are coming up behind me.

How do you define success in your practice?

The greatest success is knowing that clients trust you and will come to you for help with everything from routine matters to the most complex, once in a lifetime, situations. The corporate finance practice is quite broad and in order to really be successful, I’ve found that it is important to have a firm grasp on all aspects of the market (i.e., everything from investment grade acquisition financings to debtor-in-possession restructurings) and understanding the interplay between them.

Success is knowing the clients trust that you have their backs and that you are steadfastly advocating for their interests meanwhile never losing sight of the ultimate goal of reaching compromise and resolution for a successful transaction. Importantly, success also looks like having a level of trust with clients where you can have honest and transparent conversation, especially when you need to tell a client something that they may not want to hear. It’s in those moments when you really can feel the outcome of years of getting to know your clients and building trust that can weather any storm.

What are you most proud of as a lawyer?

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t feel an immense sense of pride from having become a partner at a firm like Davis Polk. I come from humble beginnings— two hard-working parents, both of whom had two jobs for as long as I can remember. They instilled in me the importance of hard work and being a good person, but they (and I) certainly didn’t know there were dreams as big as the ones that I had ahead of me.

As a Black woman, it is not lost on me the impact that my being a partner has on the generations of lawyers to come behind me. I am proud of the example I am setting for them. Being a lawyer has opened doors for me and allowed me to sit at tables where I can hopefully have real, long-lasting impact on the broader legal community.

Above all, I am immensely proud of the family that my husband, who is also a corporate lawyer, and I are building. We are able to show our three-year-old son that there are no dreams too big and that he can accomplish things bigger than he even knows exist if he works hard, stays humble and grounded and is always a good person.

Who is your greatest mentor in the law and what have they taught you?

The co-heads of our finance practice, Jim Florack and Jason Kyrwood, have both been instrumental in my career. They invested in me from the very beginning of my career, challenging me to push myself to heights that they knew I could achieve, even when I doubted myself. They have been steadfast in their commitment to my success, providing invaluable guidance all throughout my career and, as I’ve been told, advocating for me even when I wasn’t in the room.

They both saw something in me that I still work to see in myself. They have taught me to trust my instincts, to believe in myself and to never doubt that I belong in the rooms that I have found myself in since joining Davis Polk, and especially since becoming a partner. They inspire in me the drive to always continue learning and to never get complacent, to practice with integrity and to lead with compassion.

Tell us your two favorite songs on your summer music playlist.

“White Horse” by Chris Stapleton. My 3-year-old son has become a huge fan of Chris Stapleton. It’s not a rare sight to catch me and him belting our lungs out in the kitchen while my husband shuffles through Chris Stapleton songs. “White Horse” is a current favorite.

And “Be the One” by Dua Lipa. I’ve always loved Dua Lipa’s energy and the sense that she is undeniably her authentic self. I love working out, and “Be the One” is a ‘go to’ for me at the gym.

Vanessa Jackson of Davis Polk & Wardwell with her husband and son at her birthday brunch.

Credit: Vanessa Jackson and Jonathan Hurtarte/Bloomberg Law