Lessons I Learned in Law

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Alex Wilson, EMEA Legal Director at CBRE. Alex trained at Osborne Clarke in Bristol, before working at Carey Olsen in Guernsey and Foot Anstey in London. She also worked as an in-house lawyer at News UK. She is also the Solicitors with Disabilities representative on The Law Society Council.

Alex shares some of the lessons she learned in law including:

·      Focus on a life-work balance, not a work-life balance; life very much coming first!

·      Networking isn’t just wine and nibbles. It’s actually really crucial to build real and authentic working relationships. 

·      A diverse and inclusive workforce is not a tick-box exercise. It’s actually the most important and powerful tool the legal team or business can have. 

Alex also reveals her passion for rowing. She even gets up very early every weekend to row at the docks in South East London, no-matter the weather! Alex also reflects on her diagnosis with MS and what businesses and legal teams can do to be more inclusive. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Richard Flint, founder and Deputy CEO at broadband provider Swish Fibre.  

Richard’s career began in private practice where he specialised in oil and gas and energy from waste. In 2017 Richard moved to an in-house role as Head of Legal at Ingenious. Here Richard focussed primarily on renewable energy, but remained at the forefront of deals; working closely with the commercial team and, where necessary, external lawyers.

Richard shares some of the lessons he learned in law including:

·      The transferrable skills you have as a lawyer are super valuable – more valuable even than you realise!

·      To deliver value for the client, try to remove the noise. Keep it simple. Remove any low-level decisions so your client can focus on the big questions that matter. 

·      Be in the moment. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by workloads, but giving people time and not being distracted in meetings is so important. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Scott Yelle, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at KingMakers where he has also been Interim CEO. After leaving corporate private practice at Olswang in 2009 Scott moved in-house holding senior positions at WorldPay and Sky Sports before becoming General Counsel and building the Legal and Compliance function at Sky Betting and Gaming for over 5 years.  

Scott shares some of the lessons he learned in law including:

·      The more your career in law advances, the less it becomes about the law. 

·      Progress your career by seeking out different types of work in-house. Stretch yourself into different areas, beyond your comfort zone. 

·      Try and offer concise, proactive, simple advice where you can. Make your voice heard to help the business or organisation forwards. 

Scott also explains how he made the transition from lawyer to company interim-CEO, and how he felt when stepping up to take on that role. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Laura Frederick, Founder and CEO of How to Contract, a global leader in practical contract training for lawyers and professionals. She is also Managing Attorney at Laura Frederick Law, PLLC as well as a best-selling legal author and a LinkedIn influencer.

 Laura shares some of the lessons she learned in law including:

·      Make sure you always know the context, whenever you’re doing anything for your clients. 

·      No job is worth destroying your relationships or your mental health. 

·      Therapy is by far the best investment you can make to achieve career success and happiness. 

 Laura also fondly looks back on her time working as in-house counsel at Tesla. She reflects on how their very flat corporate structure worked to reduce bureaucracy and made it an enjoyable and efficient place to work. 

Laura shares details of her book which offers valuable advice and tips for anyone who is having to draft a contact. The book is called How to Contract: Learn How to Draft and Negotiate from a Former Big Law and Tesla Commercial Contracts Lawyer. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.  

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown talks to Founder and CEO of Beam, Alex Stephany.  Launched in 2017, Beam is an innovative tech platform supporting homeless people and refugees into stable jobs and homes. Before launching Beam, Alex was CEO of JustPark where he led the largest ever crowdfunding round for a tech startup at the time.

Alex explains the mission behind Beam and what motivated him to start it. He also shares some of the lessons he learned in law including:

·      If you can, give back. 

·      Don’t underestimate the importance of attention to detail. 

·      Impress everyone. This is a small, interconnected world so try and do right by everyone you come across. 

An expert on the sharing economy, Alex is the author of The Business of Sharing.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Jonny Parker, Legal Counsel at what3words. Jonny trained at international law firm Taylor Wessing and is also the co-founder of a challenger beer brand - YABBA which launched in May 2021.

Jonny shares some of the lessons he learned in law including:

·      The ‘right time’ might not be the right time for you. You can deviate from the traditional routes through legal training to explore different options and find what works best for you.

·      Appreciate the value of your passions and outside interests, in terms of how they can make you a better person and a better lawyer.

·      Don’t get bogged down in the finishing touches. Sometimes that extra time to make a project ‘perfect’ can be too costly and inefficient. 

Jonny also reveals that his favourite pastime is surfing, and explains how he finds time for that in and around a demanding career in law. He also talks through the work that went into launching his beer brand. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Rob Chesnut. Rob retired last year after spending more than 5 years as General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer at AirBnB. During that time he grew the legal team from 30 to over 150 legal professionals in 20 offices around the world.

 Rob is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia, and previously worked at the US Justice Department where he prosecuted bank robberies, kidnappings, murder, and espionage cases. He also led eBay’s North America legal team and is the author of Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution. 

 Rob reveals some of the lessons he learned in law including:

·      Integrity matters in business. There’s an expectation now that businesses do good, not solely exist make money. 

·      There can be ‘creative’ solutions to ethical problems, which means integrity can actually be subtle and isn’t always an absolute. 

·      Diverse organisations actually perform better than homogenous ones. The best person for the job, is the person who brings a different perspective to the team. 

Rob also shares some fascinating social experiments on the subject of integrity. How honest and trustworthy, are people in everyday life?  You might be surprised by the findings!!

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks Martin Nolan. As General Counsel at Skyscanner, Martin is responsible for Skyscanner’s Legal and Public & Regulatory Affairs teams and also acts as Company Secretary to Skyscanner’s group companies. Prior to moving in-house, Martin spent ten years working as a corporate lawyer in private practice, specialising in corporate finance, M&A and Private Equity.

Martin reveals some of the lessons he learned in law including:

·      Be your authentic self. Trying to be someone else at work will be exhausting!

·      Take your blinkers off. Your legal skills are extremely transferrable so don’t look exclusively at what you’re doing now to inform your next career choices. 

·      Fail fast, fail forward. If you don’t ever make mistakes, you’re playing it too safe!

Martin is two years in to a mammoth home renovation project. Hear how that’s progressing!

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott Brown speaks to Mollie Stoker, who leads the legal team at Ocado Group as their Deputy Group General Counsel. She’s also held general counsel and other in house roles at DWF Group and Suntory Beverage and Food.  Prior to moving in house, Mollie started her legal career at Slaughter and May and spent over 12 years working as a corporate/M&A and capital markets lawyer in UK and US law firms.  

Mollie shares the lessons he learned in law including:

·      Be yourself, because everyone else is taken!
·      Be the best leader, or boss, that you can be. 
·      Bring solutions, not problems. 

Mollie shares her obsession for buying business books (but admits to not always reading them)! A particular favourite read is Jim Collins’ Good to Great.

Mollie is also a trustee for Only a Pavement Away, a charity that helps the homeless gain employment in the hospitality sector. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

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Scott reveals the result of your vote at the end of season 3 - which element of life in law have you chosen to confine to Room 101?

Plus - A brand new series of Lessons I Learned in Law launches very soon.



Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

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