By Client Legal Director, Andrew Magowan
The week before last, I was back in London for the first time in three months. I was over for my first Quarterly Meeting with The Legal Director, where as many of the TLD team as possible get together to make and sustain connections, and share a bit of knowledge and learning between us while we’re at it (there may have been wine too). As a newbie, the chance to come together to think and chat about a few things was really valuable. But three particular things struck me about the day.
First up, everyone was just downright lovely. From fellow Client Legal Directors, to colleagues in IT, marketing, business development & the people side, to the founders themselves, everyone was really welcoming, fun, smart and interesting to talk to. Edward and Kirstie told me they were choosey about who they “let into their gang” (and yes, of course I will take that #humblebrag). But I know they mean that now. And being surrounded at work by good people without exception really does matter.
The second was how similar everyone’s goals and motivations were. Pretty much everyone there told me they joined TLD because they loved helping different businesses but wanted to do that with more control over when, where and how they did that. Clearly, I am not the only senior lawyer who wants to step back and do things their way. And happily, there are now options that enable experienced in-house lawyers to do just that. (Message me if you’d like to know more on that.)
The third was the sheer amount of concentrated in-house experience in the room. Everywhere I looked, there were people who had been there, seen it, done it several times over, all from within businesses across virtually any and every sector and industry. People who understood what matters versus what really doesn’t, all of whom had the nous and gravitas to be comfortable as a core part of a client’s senior team and board, even when working part time.
Seeing all that in-house experience together under one roof and banner really struck me (I was going to say I found it profoundly powerful, but that sounds both pompous, not to mention completely ridiculous in a Northern Irish accent). Stupidly, it was only then that I really appreciated what TLD is all about.
It’s not reactive, intricate knowledge that will tell you absolutely everything about just one subject. It’s not about experience with an eye-watering price tag that nonetheless sits on the fence. It’s not about senior experience that’s seen “at the start” before then leaving things to those with less experience. It’s not the ‘traditional’ legal approach to experience.
Instead, it’s all about the power of senior in-house legal experience to proactively cut to the chase, focus the time and effort, and get things done faster and more effectively. It’s about the ability of that pragmatic experience to quickly make SMEs stronger, faster, better prepared, more robust. And it’s about enabling every ambitious business to access that experience in a flexible, affordable way – not just those who are big enough to afford a full time GC.
Until that point, I’d never seen anyone focus on trying to make that sort of experience as widely available as possible. I wish I’d thought of the idea myself! But I really do believe that flexible affordable access to senior inhouse legal experience, even for just a few days a month, really would help SMEs and ambitious businesses flourish. And so I’m really glad to now be part of getting the benefit of that experience out there more widely.
