Bess is a member of the firm’s private equity practice group. She focuses her practice on commercial lending including syndicated credit facilities, asset-based loans, acquisition financing, first lien/second lien credit facilities, receivables financing, and cross-border lending structures. She has significant experience representing borrowers across numerous industries, agents, arrangers, financial institutions, and alternative lenders.

Why Commercial Lending?

I enjoy the complexities of the relationship between a borrower and a lender. It is a dynamic relationship that is informed by legal strategy, business strategy, and practical reality. Closing the initial transaction is just the beginning, as the relationship continues to develop post-closing – it often impacts areas of business that would otherwise seem unrelated to a credit facility and it must be navigated with care. Ultimately, it is a partnership that thrives on trust and a delicate shifting of the balance of control. It requires planning for future business objectives while also preparing for unexpected downside scenarios and translating the nuances and complexities of the borrower-lender relationship into a set documents that will govern the relationship for the foreseeable future.

What’s one piece of advice that greatly impacted you and your career trajectory?

“Just be good at what you do – it’s as simple as that.” A career is built over time, step by step. This piece of advice helped me to focus on the tasks at hand and strive to master each element of the practice. When you are good at what you do, opportunities will present themselves and your options will open up.

What is one piece of advice you would give to individuals who want to get into this industry?

Know what motivates you and find a place/practice with people who are driven by similar things. This is a demanding profession of late nights, high standards, and expectations of excellence. It becomes very difficult to perform at the level necessary to succeed in the industry if you don’t know what makes it all worth it to you.

What are some of the traits that you admire the most amongst your peers?

Their ability to make connections, build relationships, and find creative solutions to the challenges that our clients face. There is a creative and entrepreneurial energy that threads throughout the transactional practice at Nelson Mullins, resulting in a vibrant and collaborative environment. In addition, their focus on team-based approaches ensures that we are all working towards achieving common goals of delivering premier legal services and achieving optimized outcomes for clients.    

What inspired you to become an attorney?

Initially inspired by ideas of economic development and socio-economic justice, I believed that the best way to pursue a career involving those areas of interest would be through law school. Once in law school, I quickly realized that I wanted to focus on a transactional practice centered on building constructive and mutually beneficial relationships between capital providers on the one hand and companies and businesses seeking capital on the other.