In-house: Trust at the top

Tell us about your career path to date?

My parents were great believers in education, and supported me and my 13 siblings through our Bachelor degrees. I went to four different secondary schools which lacked career coaching. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer from an early age, so when the time came I picked up the Sunday Times University Guide and chose six out of the top 10 universities to apply to. Cambridge was number 1 that year and I was fortunate to end up reading law at Peterhouse.

From there I joined Herbert Smith (now HSF) in London. During my traineeship I married, and on qualifying relocated to Switzerland with my husband, who was working for CERN, to work in-house for CareFusion. There I had the privilege to work for an inspirational leader, Nicolas Narbel (Group GC and VP of HR), who showed me how an open and collaborative leader can form a team built on trust. It meant I knew early on what an excellent in-house team looks like.

Some years later we moved to Scotland to be close to my husband’s parents, and after a period of remote working for the Swiss team I moved back to private practice at MacRoberts. A few years into that role, following a secondment, I became head of Legal at a client company, before moving a few years later to Idox plc, a leading technology company which supplies specialist information management software and solutions for government and industry in tightly regulated markets. I have been here for over eight years and during that time I have relocated again, back to my roots in Belfast, and we’ve been fortunate to have our twin girls, Iona and Isla. Looking back, my career has been hugely shaped by family priorities, but I have achieved more than I thought possible.

As Chief Legal and Corporate Officer, what are your main responsibilities?

While I could list my functional responsibilities, in my view my main responsibility is to serve the great teams that are within my remit. I see the C-suite’s primary purpose as facilitating our great teams doing excellent work across the entire business. Closest to my heart is leading our in-house legal function, actively managing our People & Talent services for the Idox group, where I am de facto head of HR, and company secretarial activities for the entire group. At C-suite level I provide strategic direction across our business – in M&A, legal overall strategy and risk appetite.

Underpinning everything I do and believe is a commitment to Idox’s values, and with the CEO I lead those conversations around values to encourage our people to do the same in their everyday work and interactions.

What was your main driver for working for Idox plc?

At the time of joining the key driver was career development and the challenge of being the sole legal resource for a UK plc. That said, my motivation has changed over my eight years plus here – so my ongoing driver is I get to work for and with great people. Idox has been on a journey in my time here, and a pivotal point for the company was David Meaden joining as CEO. I work for a true leader and with a board of directors I continue to learn from, and that level of trust and commitment helps me do great work at C-suite level.

Why would you encourage young lawyers to consider a career in-house?

In-house roles offer you a much more whole and rounded career. You have more ability to influence and lead great business outcomes. You have more exposure to the operation of business, which opens managerial opportunities not confined to a specific area of legal advice. As a C-suite/GC you can carry more responsibility than a partner at a large law firm – for example Idox employs 600+ people and I manage our people strategy which drives a lot of change in our organisation.

Generally, I think working in-house lets lawyers live and work locally and internationally, and in a much more flexible way than private practice allows.

What advice would you give lawyers who want to start a career in-house?

Spend lots of time researching the company you want to work for. Working relationships are a two-way thing. Companies interview for talent, but you need to interview to see if the organisation and the team are somewhere you can be supported and thrive. Check out Glassdoor; ask your network; see if someone from the team will meet you for coffee. Each job is a transfer of your time and life energy for money, so invest that wisely.

What makes a good in-house lawyer?

I love to see the transition from private practice lawyer to in-house lawyer. When newly minted lawyers join and produce a council tender contract review I can get 30 pages of comments. Down the line, concise one-page key risks and mitigations summaries provide the business with what it needs to drive a great commercial outcome.

This doesn’t mean a dumbing down or generalist approach to the law; rather it’s a distillation process of what is meaningful and of value to your customer. You want to tailor your legal advice to something that suits the needs of the client, rather than pointing out the loose threads. As an in-house lawyer you have to be open to reassessing how you do things, be more flexible and collaborative, but still carry that great training with you.

How does the future look for in-house lawyers? What are the key challenges and opportunities?

There has never been a better time to be an in-house lawyer. More and more in-house lawyers are showing their value to their business and receiving recognition of that value. Our lawyers are strategic business partners rather than lawyers who provide legal advice in isolation. We shape and guide the business and provide legal advice along the way.

What does success look like for your team and how do you measure this?

Not a week goes by when my team members are not named and praised for the quality of their work and their value as colleagues. We can measure metrics such as number of contracts concluded, transactions completed, response times, risk register metric reduction, training sessions delivered (which we do), but when I see team members’ careers flourish – they step into larger roles, lead transactions and deliver presentations to our plc board – that is the intangible measure of success for me.

How have attitudes and working practices in the legal profession changed in the law since you started out?

In some areas of the law, attitudes have changed, and in-house is more inclusive and reflects the society in which we provide services and make an impact. However, in my view there are some areas of private practice that are still quite hierarchical, inflexible and work to an old model that I think will not be as appealing to upcoming generations of lawyers. Lawyers will vote with their feet, and we will all learn to adapt. I didn’t expect to be able to have the quality of role that I have while working remotely, so that is the largest positive impact as it will support excellent lawyers in the regions rather than being London centric.

Idox is currently training its first trainee in-house. Tell us how that came about?

We can find a wealth of talent outwith the traditional path for recruitment to top tier firms. By widening our pool we improve diversity and account for a range of backgrounds. We employed a paid intern for a specific project and his talent shone through, which then led to establishing a traineeship programme for him. We have shaped a varied portfolio for him and the range of work we cover is extensive, ranging from global data protection projects to M&A. We also want to explore external collaborations to make sure our traineeship is as varied as possible.

How can solicitors build good mental health, increase resilience and manage stress successfully?

My advice would be “when you plant a seed, make sure you plant it in good soil”, and by that I mean, make sure you plant yourself in a work environment where you can thrive. It is hard to protect your mental health and manage stress in the face of an unsupportive environment. Work is only one portion of your life: invest in other areas of your life to ensure you have good perspective and have a variety
of outside interests that will in turn support your mental wellbeing.

You’ve also got a non-executive director role at the court of the University of West of Scotland. What do you value most about this position, and what skills or experience does it bring to your day job?

All lawyers should think about their contribution to, and impact on, society. I was fortunate to be sponsored by Idox to attend a development course for women on boards. I wanted to use my skills from that and from attending plc boards to contribute to the University of West of Scotland, which aims to have a transformational influence on opportunities for young people, particularly in the area of widening access among first generation university students. It is a privilege to witness the passion of the academic community and I have really benefited from observing and comparing the board and governance practices of the university and plcs.

And finally:

Best advice you’ve ever been given? There is a lot of wisdom in a book called Your Money or Your Life: all lawyers should financially educate themselves at the first available opportunity.

Top three dinner party guests? My husband Stuart, and our twins, Isla and Iona.

If you had a superpower, what would it be? Lawyers all know the word ruthless, but few of us use its antonym, ruthful. If I had a superpower it would be to be always ruthful – to keep my focus on having compassion for everyone I encounter.   

Questions put by Jennifer Malcolm, In-house Lawyers’ Committee and head of Legal, Offshore Wind at BayWa r.e.