Team size: 52

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?  

I have had many interesting experiences over my career, including as General Counsel at ASDA and UK General Counsel at Amazon. One recent example stands out. In early 2020, I led Amazon’s Legal Team’s work to deliver a stand-up new service that would help boost testing capacity by delivering test kits to NHS and other key workers across the UK. The project was immense but had to be successfully delivered as quickly as possible. It involved re-engineering contracts and existing frameworks and engaging with the ICO and standards bodies to create a new process that worked. We successfully devised, proposed and validated the new service within days of first proposal. The project successfully delivered over 7m test kits to the NHS and front-line key workers that helped save lives. The work was recognised by Amazon Legal Team receiving the Financial Times most innovative in-house legal team in Europe award for 2021, an award of which I remain tremendously proud. 

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

Good humour, calm objectivity and tenacity – not always in that order.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I am absolutely passionate that lawyers and legal professionals use (and get full recognition for) all the skills and attributes they bring to the table: these include calm objectivity, attention to detail, rapid data synthesis, advocacy and empathy. These amazing skills, that go way beyond the technical knowledge (which is always taken as given), are more important than ever in helping businesses succeed in the face of enormous environmental, technological and socio-economic macro-change.