Lessons I Learned in Law

Umar Aziz, Partner, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at DG Partners, joins Scott Brown to share lessons from a career that nearly took him into shipping brokerage before a major life event brought him back to law. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Umar reflects on how personal circumstances shaped the start of his legal career, including his decision to return to Clifford Ch...

Selene Brett, Chief Legal, Risk and Compliance Officer at PPRO, joins Scott Brown to share thoughtful lessons on legal leadership, humility, and how lawyers can add real value without hiding behind the mystique of the profession. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Selene reflects on her role at PPRO, a payments platform helping merchants and payment service providers connect to local pa...

Jim Shaughnessy, Chief Legal Officer at DocuSign, joins Scott Brown to share lessons from more than 20 years operating at the top of global legal teams. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Jim reflects on his role leading legal at DocuSign, a business best known for e-signature and now expanding into intelligent agreement management. He explains how DocuSign is helping businesses move be...

James Ryan, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Business Officer at BioNTech, joins Scott Brown to discuss the lessons he’s learned leading through one of the most transformative periods in the biotech industry. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , James reflects on his journey from scientist to lawyer, before eventually stepping into one of the most influential legal leadership roles in biotec...

Lucy Tyrrell, General Counsel at Wordsmith AI, joins Scott Brown to explore how in-house lawyers can evolve by combining legal expertise with technology, process design, and commercial thinking. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Lucy shares her journey from private practice into high-growth tech environments, culminating in her role at a fast-scaling legal AI startup backed by Index Ve...

Jonathan Wiseman, General Counsel and Chief People Officer at Ocado Retail, joins Scott Brown to share practical lessons on influence, adaptability, and building a truly commercial legal career. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Jonathan reflects on his dual role leading both legal and people functions within a fast-growing retail joint venture between Ocado and Marks & Spencer. He...

Episode 100: Perspective, Candour, and Strategic Leadership — Rachel Canham, Rentokil Initial  In the 100th episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Rachel Canham, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at Rentokil Initial, reflects on what it actually takes to operate as a strategic leader at executive level — across a legal function of around 70 lawyers spanning 90 countries.  Rachel stepped in...

Dean Nash, Global Chief Operating Officer for Legal at Banco Santander, joins Scott Brown to share practical leadership lessons from operating at scale within one of the world’s largest legal functions. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Dean reflects on his move away from the traditional General Counsel path into a newly created global operations role focused on transforming a 1,700-la...

Justine Campbell, Chief Legal Officer at National Grid, joins Scott Brown to share grounded leadership insights from operating at the centre of a complex, global energy business. In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law , Justine reflects on what it truly means to influence at senior level in-house. She explains why the most effective lawyers focus on delivering insight rather than just informa...

Season 9 of Lessons I Learned in Law opens with a candid and wide-ranging conversation with Kevin Massie , Chief Legal, Risk, Governance and Compliance Officer at Imperial Brands PLC , a FTSE 30 business with 25,000+ employees globally. Just over a year into the role, Kevin reflects on stepping into one of the UK’s most senior in-house legal positions and why the title alone doesn’t guarantee infl...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues! This week, Scott is joined by Jim Reid , Chief Legal Officer at Fortis , the $35bn North American utilities group headquartered in Newfoundland, Canada. Jim’s career shift is one many lawyers dream about but rarely execute—moving directly from partnership at leading Canadian firm Davies into his first-ever in-house role as a general counsel. In this...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Stephanie Lopes , Chief Legal Officer at Volt.io , the UK-based fintech scale-up powering global instant payments through open banking. Stephanie joined Volt after a decade in the tech transactions team at Bird & Bird, where she worked...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Katja Fenton , General Counsel and Executive Team Member at Fugro , the global geo-data company supporting safer infrastructure, offshore wind development, cleaner energy, and sustainable cities. Remarkably, Katja joined the conversation du...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Andy Cooke , Chief Legal Officer at Perk , the global business travel and expenses platform. Andy shares a grounded, refreshingly practical look at what it means to build and lead an in-house legal team inside a high-growth tech company. Dr...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Carolyn Herzog , Chief Legal Officer and Board Secretary at Elastic , the Dutch-headquartered, NYSE-listed global search and AI company. With a career spanning senior legal roles at Symantec , Arm , and now Elastic, Carolyn has led through...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Emily Barker , Global General Counsel and Executive Committee member at Arcadis , the Dutch-headquartered, Euronext-listed design, engineering, and sustainability consultancy employing more than 32,000 people worldwide. Emily reflects on st...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by James Sullivan , an experienced General Counsel and business leader who most recently served as Group General Counsel at Bitstamp , one of the world’s longest-standing cryptocurrency exchanges. James shares an inside look at what it’s like...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Jonathan Cope , Managing Director of the Specialty Lines business at RSA Group Insurance . After a decade as General Counsel and executive-team member, Jonathan made the rare move from legal leadership into a commercial managing-director ro...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott is joined by Portia Thornhill , General Counsel and Partner at Elixirr , the challenger consultancy competing with the Big Four. Portia shares her journey from nearly a decade at Allen & Overy to building a thriving in-house career that ultimately l...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal AI platform built for in-house teams. This week, Scott Brown is joined by Frankie Williams , Chief Legal Officer at DeepL , an AI-powered language platform transforming how people and businesses communicate across borders. Frankie shares insights from leading a global legal team through rapid growth, reflec...

Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law kicks off in partnership with Wordsmith AI , the legal AI platform built for in-house teams. Emilie Mathieu, General Counsel at Checkout.com, joins Scott Brown to share her journey from Amazon and eBay into the fast-paced world of fintech, where she now leads legal, compliance, and enterprise risk across a global team of 110. In this conversation, Emilie reflec...

Doug McClure, Senior Counsel at Northrop Grumman, shares lessons learned from more than two decades of in-house practice across heavy industry, infrastructure, and now one of the world’s largest aerospace and defence contractors. Doug reflects on his eight years supporting Northrop Grumman’s European operations—navigating a highly regulated, high-stakes sector that demands clarity, trust, and crea...

Nick Havers, General Counsel for Europe and now also Managing Principal at Lockton, the world’s largest privately owned insurance brokers, shares three sharp, experience-driven lessons shaped across more than a decade in the insurance broking sector.  Nick’s recent promotion to Managing Principal, an honour usually reserved for client-facing, revenue-generating leaders, is a milestone not just for...

 Pola Karolczyk, General Counsel and Chief People Officer at Cowboy, joins Scott to share her dynamic legal journey: from competition law in Poland and US law firms, to regulatory work at Apple, and now building the legal and people functions at a fast-moving e-bike scaleup.  Pola reflects on three powerful lessons, beginning with the need to ditch legal jargon and speak human. She learned early o...

Tara Haig, General Counsel at Multiverse, joins Scott to reflect on a legal career driven by curiosity, courage, and instinct. From saying yes to opening a New York office two years post-qualification to leading legal, privacy, and governance for one of the UK’s most prominent edtech scale-ups, Tara’s story is all about leaning into discomfort, and figuring it out along the way.  Now part of the e...