Lessons I Learned in Law

Welcome to the latest instalment in our mini-series, Lessons I Learned in Law X Inside the Agency, where we aim to lift the lid on Heriot Brown In-House Legal Recruitment to give you a better idea of what we do. 

We are flipping the script on our usual format and putting our Consultants and team members in the spotlight to share more about the people who make us tick and help us provide fulfilling careers for lawyers. On each episode of Inside the Agency you will get to know more about how recruitment works and we hope we can dispel some of the myths!! 

This week we're chatting to Stephanie Jones. Stephanie specialises in placing lawyers in-house within the financial service industry, working with a range of clients such as retail and consumer banks, global investment banks, private equity funds, asset managers and insurance companies. 

Stephanie shares: 

• What Rec to Rec means in the world of recruitment.
• Why the small details are so important to lawyers.
• Why a good client relationship is key.

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 wellbeing advocate Emilie Berge. After an 18 year career in-house in the Tech and Defence sectors Emilie is now on a mission to empower high achievers to reach their career goals without burning out. She provides corporate training to companies who want to improve their staff wellbeing and host a retreat abroad once a year.

 Emilie shares the lessons she learned during her career in law, including:

·      Look after yourself, so that you can perform better. 

·      It’s OK to be wrong. Particularly in-house, you need to be able to negotiate and compromise to unblock a conflict.  Don’t allow your ego to get in the way.

·      Stay humble. 

Emilie began her mental health and wellness blog in 2017; she talks through her own struggles with mental health, how that inspired her to research and begin the blog, and how it has developed since.  Check out the blog here: How To Be Happier At Work - Me My Health And I

This episode is particularly appropriate as World Mental Health Day is coming up on October 10. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

Follow Heriot Brown:

Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

Welcome to the latest instalment in our mini-series, Lessons I Learned in Law X Inside the Agency, where we aim to lift the lid on Heriot Brown In-House Legal Recruitment to give you a better idea of what we do. 

We are flipping the script on our usual format and putting our Consultants and team members in the spotlight to share more about the people who make us tick and help us provide fulfilling careers for lawyers. On each episode of Inside the Agency you will get to know more about how recruitment works and we hope we can dispel some of the myths!! 

This week we're chatting to Martin Evensen. Martin specialises in placing legal and compliance professionals into construction/infrastructure/transport/retail businesses on a permanent basis.

Martin shares: 

• His standout placement.
• How he moved from retail to recruitment.
• Why finding the right candidate is more important than a quick win.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

Follow Heriot Brown: Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to Ailsa Zoya Longmuir, General Counsel for Centrica Energy Marketing & Trading and Centrica Business Solutions.  Ailsa has been with Centica for 12 years and is responsible for all Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs matters for these business units globally. She is a  leading Executive Sponsor for Diversity & Inclusion and Charitable Initiatives and is also chairwoman of Centrica Energy Trading A/S’ board. 

Ailsa shares the three lessons she’s learned in law including:

·      Isolate the issue. Try to advise the business on what they need to know, rather than overdelivering with unnecessary information. 

·      Ask why!  You need to fully understand the business and its goals in order to effectively advise. 

·      Trust your instincts. If you have a gut feeling about something, it is quite often correct! 

Ailsa explains the structure of the legal team at Centrica, and why she thinks legal teams are integral to the success of the business they’re advising. Including the legal team in decision making will ‘improve their commerciality in the long run, and give them the ability to come up with more creative legal solutions to make what the business wants to happen, happen’. 

Ailsa also reveals the impact that the Russia-Ukraine war has had on Centrica as a business and the energy market more broadly. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

Follow Heriot Brown:

Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

Welcome to the latest instalment in our mini-series, Lessons I Learned in Law X Inside the Agency, where we aim to lift the lid on Heriot Brown In-House Legal Recruitment to give you a better idea of what we do. 

We are flipping the script on our usual format and putting our Consultants and team members in the spotlight to share more about the people who make us tick and help us provide fulfilling careers for lawyers. On each episode of Inside the Agency you will get to know more about how recruitment works and we hope we can dispel some of the myths!! 

This week we're chatting to Michi Nishikawa who recruits at all levels. From paralegals to General Counsels, placing emphasis on cultural fit and transferable skills above sector specialism to cater to the adaptive nature of the regional market.

Michi shares: 

• Her route into recruitment.
• The benefits she's felt moving out of London.
• Why personality is key when it comes to smaller businesses.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

Follow Heriot Brown: Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to Francesca Porter, General Counsel and executive team member at Onfido, an AI company who digitally prove people’s real identities using a photo ID and facial biometrics. 

Francesca shares the lessons that she’s learned in law, including:

·      Smart people simplify. The power of lawyers is not only to understand and articulate the legal position, but also to convey a message to key business stakeholders and to drive influence on key risk areas. 

·      To be effective as lawyers we need to be more of an airbag than a seatbelt, helping businesses to grow and scale responsibly in an enduring way.

·      The power of the network is huge - particularly when trying to solve challenging problems at pace, it can save re-inventing the wheel.

Francesca explains what it’s like to work at Onfido, an agile, relatively new tech firm compared to Hewlett Packard where she worked as LegalCounsel. She details how she endeavoured to incorporate best practice from HP at Onfido, without slowing their rapid rate of growth. 

Outside of work Francesca loves to write. She details some of her literary works and the courses she undertook to help write her novels. She also explains how writing outside of work improved her ability as a lawyer, enabling her to be more energised and approach problems in a more creative way. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

Follow Heriot Brown:

Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

Welcome to the latest instalment in our mini-series, Lessons I Learned in Law X Inside the Agency, where we aim to lift the lid on Heriot Brown In-House Legal Recruitment to give you a better idea of what we do. 

We are flipping the script on our usual format and putting our Consultants and team members in the spotlight to share more about the people who make us tick and help us provide fulfilling careers for lawyers. On each episode of Inside the Agency you will get to know more about how recruitment works and we hope we can dispel some of the myths!! 

This week we're chatting to Kevin Hunt who has 20 years recruitment experience in executive search, domestic and international. He has a strong track record in delivering projects in the Energy, Heavy industry and across several technical based campaigns.

Kevin shares: 

• His thoughts on the rise of LinkedIn.
• His expertise on the changing energy market.
• The biggest challenges in recruitment right now.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

Follow Heriot Brown: Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to Maryam Ziarati McLoughlin, General Counsel at Paddle. She joined the team in 2019 and since then has led the business through two funding rounds, grown the legal team, put in place a training contract scheme and lead the people and talent function & DE&I.

Maryam shares the three lessons she has learned in law including:

·      Lead with empathy and assume nothing. 

·      Value personal relationships and enjoy getting to know people on a personal level. 

·      Fortune favours the bold. Be prepared to take risks.

Maryam reveals that through law school she hadn’t wanted to be a lawyer as she hadn’t seen a side of law that appealed to her. That was until she was doing work experience and discovered the creativity inherent to problem solving and the potential flexibility of the legal system. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

 Follow Heriot Brown:

Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

Welcome to the latest instalment in our mini-series, Lessons I Learned in Law X Inside the Agency, where we aim to lift the lid on Heriot Brown In-House Legal Recruitment to give you a better idea of what we do. 

We are flipping the script on our usual format and putting our Consultants and team members in the spotlight to share more about the people who make us tick and help us provide fulfilling careers for lawyers. On each episode of Inside the Agency you will get to know more about how recruitment works and we hope we can dispel some of the myths!! 

This week we're chatting to Mark Bailey who specialises for Heriot Brown in providing interim solutions for clients and consultants, ranging from fixed term contracts, maternity covers, short term assignments, to ad-hoc consultancy projects.

Mark shares: 

• His insight into the changing attitudes around the interim market.
• Thoughts on generational differences.
• The advantages and disadvantages of changing work practices.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

Follow Heriot Brown: Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to James Morgan, Managing Director and the Co-General Counsel for EMEA at Japan’s largest bank MUFG. James is responsible for overseeing all legal issues of MUFG Bank, including litigation and enforcement matters, corporate structure and acquisitions as well as regional corporate governance.

James shares the three lessons he has learned in law including:

·      Be adaptable. When changes happen try and embrace them. 

·      Don’t be siloed. Try and be generalist in your approach to your career and any opportunities that may arise along the way. 

·      Be patient. A legal career can be a bit like climbing a mountain. You may need to sidestep, or even move down in order to move up. Don’t feel you need to achieve giant strides in a short space of time. 

James explains how his Co-general Counsel role came about, and how MUFG have subsequently adopted co-head roles in other departments as a result of the proven gains in flexibility and performance. ‘One plus one equals three’, James says. 

James also reveals he’s a dab-hand at Karaoke – something that’s been surprisingly useful recently in his career! 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

Follow Heriot Brown:

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