Judge Jules on keeping your passions a priority

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to Kenny Roberston, Head of Outsourcing, Technology & IP legal team at NatWest Group. In his role, he leads up a team which supports some of the largest outsourcing transactions in the UK and which continually pushes to be innovative and progressive and provide great customer experience for stakeholders. He is also Chair of the Law Society of Scotland’s Wellbeing Steering Group. 

Kenny shares some of the lessons he’s learned in law including:

·      Be Yourself! Giving legal advice is a relationships game, and its hard to build relationships without being authentic. 

·      Play with your head up (to use a sporting analogy). Be aware, be able to identify opportunities, adapt to change and be ready for whatever might be around the corner.  

·      Create and nurture a positive culture within your team.

Kenny admits that early on in his career he tried to live up to his pre-conceived ideas of what a lawyer should be, and how damaging this can be for lawyers’ wellbeing. He explores where these ideas might stem from, how the legal profession is changing and how developments such as AI may even alter the skillset required to be a lawyer in the future. 

Kenny shares details of his pioneering initiative in collaboration with the Scottish Ethnic Minorities Law Association. Kenny also reveals how he’s worked to cultivate a transparent and psychologically safe organisational culture within his team at NatWest. He elaborates on the three pillars that form the bedrock of his team's ethos: High Performance, Progressive Mindset, and Teamship, and how they factor into the bank's ESG agenda and climate goals. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

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In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to Chris Fowler, Chief Operating Officer for Legal, Governance and Compliance at mining business Rio Tinto. Prior to that Chris spent 24 years at BT Group including as General Counsel for BT’s Technology division which builds and operates BT’s networks, its IT infrastructure and its research and development unit.

After a long career in telecoms, Chris explains his motivation for switching sector and how he’s finding his first few months with Rio Tinto. “Fundamentally I wanted to work in an organisation that's got some pretty big challenges, but also is somewhere that I found personally really exciting” Chris says. Chris also discusses the potential professional benefits that can arise from switching sectors, as well as the things you should watch out for. 

Chris shares some of the lessons he’s learned in law including:

·      If it doesn’t feel comfortable, you’re learning. Be prepared to test yourself!

·      As a lawyer you can have a huge impact on the people around you and their lives. Invest in people and value relationships. 

·      Say ‘yes’ when you don’t necessarily have all the facts. Take the leap!

Chris also shares how he made the most of his ‘break’ in-between roles, something he would advise everyone to do and to make the most of if you get the opportunity. 

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

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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 Chloe Rowan. Chloe is our team’s Personal Assistant at Heriot Brown, responsible for assisting with the day to day operations of the business. With 15 years’ worth of administrative experience, 9 of which as a virtual PA, Chloe brings a wealth of expertise to the Heriot Brown team. 

Chloe shares: 

• How working from home has changed over a decade.
• Why user experience is so important.
• How Heriot Brown differs from other recruiters.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment.

Follow Heriot Brown: Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Scott Brown speaks to Matt Wilson, General Counsel at TV Production company Fremantle. Fremantle produces over 12,000 hours of original programming every year across drama, entertainment, documentaries and film. Matt started his career with four years at Baker & McKenzie and has also worked at Arsenal Football Club (he is a huge Arsenal fan), as well as Telefónica and Uber.

Matt shares some of the lessons he’s learned in law including:

·      If you’re giving advice that you want to rely on or evidence in the future, make sure you write it down!

·       Never assume and always be curious. This applies when offering advice in a professional capacity but also in understanding people, maintaining relationships and managing teams. 

·      This, too, shall pass! A positive mindset is required when it comes to crisis management and response, and remind yourself that everything works out in the end. 

Matt explains the power of Personality Insights when it comes to understanding people and getting the most from your team.  When recruiting, Matt looks for people who are good at the things that he’s not so good at, to ensure diverse perspectives and a comprehensive skillset across the team.

Matt is well travelled and explains how a legal career can offer fantastic opportunities for travel, if that’s something you wish to do. Drawing on his own intriguing experiences living abroad, Matt showcases the monumental value of diversity and its role in enriching our teams.

Presented by Scott Brown of Heriot Brown Legal Recruitment. 

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This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

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.

Follow Heriot Brown: Twitter | LinkedIn |  Facebook | Instagram

This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

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:

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This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

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

This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

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:

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This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

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

This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com

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:

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This episode of Lessons I Learned in Law is brought to you by Beamery.

Beamery is an AI-powered talent platform, designed to hire candidates faster, develop the skills of your workforce, and increase employee retention.

Find out more at Beamery.com