Lessons I Learned in Law

In this episode of 'Lessons I Learned in Law', Scott Brown interviews Kelly Young, General Counsel and Executive Director at Marie Curie, one of the UK's biggest charities. Kelly shares her journey from private practice to in-house counsel, emphasising the importance of authenticity, curiosity, and understanding risk and governance in the legal profession. She discusses her role in building teams and navigating challenges in getting to that position, while also providing practical advice...

On this week’s show, Scott Brown is joined by David Lancelot, Chief Legal Officer and EVP for Advocacy at LawVu. With over 20 years of experience building and optimising international in-house legal teams, David is a real leader in legal innovation. In this episode, they explore his career journey—from traditional legal roles to his work at LawVu, a company transforming legal operations through technology.David shares insights on the evolving landscape of in-house legal functions, highli...

On this week's show, I am joined by Chantelle Zemba, Group General Counsel at Deliveroo.Chantelle falls into the category of someone who was a relectant in-house lawyer. She was seconded to Deliveroo to help out with some fundraising and corporate matters whilst she worked at Norton Rose Fulbright. At that time she was a self confessed deal junkie Corporate Lawyer!She joined them full time in the Corporate team shortly after and admits she has never looked back...nor had the time to do so!!&n...

In this episode, Scott interviews Kate Southwell, the General Counsel for Corporate and Commercial at Anglo American PLC. Kate relocated to the UK for this huge role with Anglo after 12 years in Switzerland. She shares how she intentionally pursued an international and non-linear career path and we explore some of the benefits of diverse experiences in the legal profession.As covered in the press, Anglo was subject to an unsolicited takeover bid by a competitor, BHP, in 2024. It was grea...

On this week's show our host, Scott Brown, was delighted to welcome Mary Pothos, one of the leading voices in the Privacy space. Mary has held Chief Privacy Officer roles in some of the largest tech companies. Mary shares her career trajectory, starting from her days in-house in the financial services sector at Visa, and they discuss how she accidently pivoted into privacy!The Privacy Legal landscape has shifted significantly over the last two decades, so they dive into some of these cha...

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law Scott invited Volker Weishar, the EMEA General Counsel for Sonos. They explore Volker's remarkable journey from studying economics and law in Germany, experiencing a brief stint in journalism, to his pivotal role at Sonos over the past 11 years. Volker shares three critical lessons he's learned throughout his career: the importance of a broad understanding of the business, the necessity of close collaboration within the legal function, and the ...

We return for another episode of Lessons I Learned in Law this week when Scott is joined by Leslie O'Callaghan, the Global Head of Legal at Adyen. Adyen was founded in Amsterdam in 2006 by a group of payments entrepreneurs. With Adyen they built a modern solution to displace the patchwork legacy systems that merchants were being forced to use through larger institutions!Adyen is without a doubt one of the most exciting Fintechs on the planet and one of the top international successes from the...

In this episode of 'Lessons I Learned in Law,' host Scott Brown talks with James Stebbing, who has held one of the coolest roles I can think of in law: General Counsel of Six Nations Rugby and the British and Irish Lions! They discuss James' career journey and how he made plans to land his dream role in Sports Law. They also discuss his early career shift from potential military service to law, which was spurred by personal circumstances. His career journey i...

On the show this week, Scott Brown is joined by Lucie Grant, Vice President and Global General Counsel at Dura-Line which is part of the Orbia Group. The story of Lucie is incredibly inspiring: from an intellectual property litigator to pivotal roles within giants like Thermo Fisher Scientific and BAE Systems.As Dura-Line's first female VP and General Counsel, Lucie significantly contributed to the diversification of the company, having increased the number of women in the organisation ...

Buckle up for another episode of Lessons I Learned in Law! This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Alison Malin Zoellner, the Group General Counsel over at Dentsu Group, on of the largest global advertising firms. Alison's career path is nothing short of impressive. She started out at Sullivan & Cromwell, then transitioned to in-house roles at The New York Times and Honeywell. It's a testament to the kind of adaptability and reinvention that's key to thriving in toda...

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, we mix things up a little and uncover the dark arts of Law Firm Recruitment as our host, Scott Brown, welcomes Tom Coode-Bate, the founder and director of Rock Legal, a specialist in private practice legal recruitment. Working as an In-House Lawyer is a different career to that of a Lawyer in a Law Firm.When Scott founded Heriot Brown, he consciously wanted to create a brand specialised and dedicated to the In-House legal profession. In t...

In this episode, our host, Scott Brown, sits down with Nicholas Cranfield, the Chief Legal Officer at Therme Group. Nick joined the business (a health and wellbeing company) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic - we discuss the unique recruitment process and adjusting to a new role in such uncertain times. Nick also reflects on his previous roles at Dyson and Johnson Matthey and they discuss the importance of being open to unplanned opportunities as it’s led to exciting opportunit...

How does a Legal career in the Seychelles or Mauritius sound? Awesome....On this week's show, I am joined by Phil Norah - General Counsel for the UK business of the Holcim Group, which is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions and products. On top of delivering an ambitious M&A agenda, one of the key challenges for the Holcim Group is the decarbonisation of the cement industry, which is an existential threat. The Legal function is playing a pivotal role in t...

On this week's show, our host, Scott Brown, sits down with Alex O'Connell, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Fever-Tree. the global mixers and soft drinks business. What an apt guest / company for the wonderful British summertime!They discuss the pivotal years in Alex's career, which started as a corporate M&A lawyer at Freshfields in London and Singapore, before taking his first in-house role at AB InBev, the leading global brewer. He joined Fever-Tree in 2021 and discusses how he...

On this weeks show, I am joined by Robin Carvell-Spedding, General Counsel at Protium, a company at the forefront of the energy transition, focusing on producing green hydrogen. Robin's career has spanned over a decade in various in-house roles within the oil and gas sector, working on international projects across South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. From carrying a massive flat-screen TV down five flights of stairs with his landlord, Michael Laudrup, in Copenhagen, to navi...