What are the key projects you have been involved in over the past twelve months?

Industry Leadership: SPUR Coalition (Standards for Publisher Usage Rights)

In an industry-leading global initiative, the legal team played a central role advising on the formation of a new cross-industry news brand coalition to establish shared technical standards and responsible licensing frameworks that ensure AI developers can access high-quality, reliable journalism in legitimate, responsible and convenient ways, while enabling publishers to retain practical control of their content and receive value for it.

Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement restorative justice programme.

Instrumental in advising the Scott Trust on the legal and governance structures underpinning its ten-year, £10m Legacies of Enslavement restorative justice initiative, addressing the Guardian’s historical ties to transatlantic enslavement.

This included designing governance structures, contracting strategies, risk mitigation and institutional partnering, tailored to the LOE Programme and The Scott Trust’s values and objectives.

The initiative has involved multi-year grants, funding for community initiatives and academic partnerships, as well as a joint initiative with Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum to co-create a major, free public exhibition (Manchester, Cotton and Enslavement) opening in 2027.

How do you help drive strong governance and ethical decision-making across your organisation?

General counsel and legal teams are well-placed to drive and support strong governance and ethical decision-making: we are centrally placed, with a good overview of significant projects and functions across the organisation. The team and I proactively work to design appropriate governance structures and advise in light of the organisation’s values and ethical principles.

We position ourselves as strategic partners. We drive and encourage an approach that always considers what is ethical and appropriate – and what would reflect well on the organisation if reported publicly – alongside what enables long-term sustainable growth and manages legal risks appropriately. Given the centrality of reputation to our organisation, and its strong values-driven ethos, this is particularly critical.

What are the most important attributes of the modern GC and what advice would you give to those aspiring to be an in-house lawyer?

A modern GC requires deep industry knowledge, curiosity and humility. I focus on supporting our strategic vision sustainably and effectively, working with colleagues to make us as successful as we can be in the broadest sense.

I would advise aspiring in-house lawyers to seek broad experience early on to discover where they can add the most value – and what they enjoy and find most rewarding. It is also worth thinking deeply about the type and size of company, and industry, you would want to work within. A desire for a broad range of work, variety and enjoying working alongside people with different skillsets and outlooks is a plus for any aspiring in-house lawyer.

How do you manage situations where legal advice and commercial objectives conflict?

When there is a tension between commercial objectives and legal risks, I try to prioritise understanding the underlying business drivers as deeply as possible and enabling commercial ambition.

All business inherently involves risk. By thinking creatively, one can often provide balanced, practical advice that mitigates the most significant risks while enabling the commercial objective. It is also important to be honest and clear about the unavoidable trade-offs involved in tricky decisions. This enables both a clear understanding of the risk-reward trade-offs and empowers high-quality decision-making processes.