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The Engagement Appeal x Angeli Arora: Why Creativity is Paramount, Even for Lawyers

By Emmeline Armitage

The meeting point of art and commerce is ever-changing and hard to define. What place does art have in the world of finance? How can young, savvy individuals learn to secure their footing in the world of work through smart investment? What advice do successful entrepreneurs have for the youth of today about finance, culture, and belief in the self? These are all questions ‘Art and the City’ seeks to answer, by interviewing some of the brightest and boldest minds in both the art world and the city.  

This week’s episode of the Art and the City podcast features Angeli Arora, founder of Allectus, a law firm that covers high profile corporate matters for investors. She has been a partner for over 16 years at several top global law firms, and was one of the youngest partners at a top US law firm by the age of 30. She has worked in the UK, Hong Kong, and South Africa, and has received several awards including Commercial Lawyer of the Year at the Women and Diversity Awards 2023. She is also part of the senior advisory committee at The Engagement Appeal.  

The episode begins with a discussion of the ways in which Angeli’s route to becoming a lawyer took her off a set course in life. She describes the “unorthodox” and “unexpected” nature of her move from a state school in Slough to Oxford, where she excelled at her subject. After graduating, she went to work for a US law firm, taking a punt on a pathway that could again take her out of her comfort zone; she joined an office with only six people where she was the most junior, but found a love of having to prove yourself and the quality of the product you offer in the marketplace. 

Her role in a smaller firm gave her the ability to gain responsibility and trust, and soon she put her hand up for a movement to Hong Kong, to look at Asian investment. This would not be the only time in her career Angeli would move to a new country with no contacts or foothold, but plenty of ambition and drive. The message she’d give to her younger self now? “Have more confidence!” It’s not always the case that the older you are the wiser you are, there is something to be said for being young, and taking risks that give you a “high level of fulfilment”.  

Angeli adds that as an extension of her work in law, her time at The Engagement Appeal working on shareholder engagement has been a fulfilling outlet for her other passions.

You can listen to the rest of this discussion on Spotify: Art x City feat. Angeli Arora

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