The Crafty Show - Crafty Counsel's in-house legal podcast

In this episode of The Crafty Show, Ben White, founder of Crafty Counsel, sits down with Karl Wilson, a seasoned lawyer turned legal consultant with over two decades of experience and, since 2015, also a professional actor. During the course of their conversation, Karl speaks candidly about the significant upsides as well as the hurdles he's encountered while juggling both legal consultancy and acting. He offers valuable insights and guidance for fellow in-house lawyers looking to pursue interests beyond the legal realm. This episode was kindly sponsored by Re:link - the flexible legal resourcing platform from Linklaters. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode, Lucie Cruz, Content Producer at Crafty Counsel, is joined by Richard Barnett, General Counsel at The National Gallery. Responsible for advising The Gallery on all regulatory and commercial matters, Richard has played a crucial role in facilitating the acquisition of Thomas Lawrence’s “Red Boy” through a private treaty sale, as well as procuring works by Veronese, Pissarro, Poussin, and others. In this episode, Richard opens up about the considerations and negotiations involved in acquiring artworks. He also shares his work for The National Gallery's Bicentenary - celebrating 200 years of bringing people and paintings together. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show, Toby Hornett, Head of Community at Crafty Counsel, sits down with Mel Nebhrajani CB, Director General for Litigation with Justice and Security at GLD. Mel, who previously served as Legal Director at the Department for Health and Social Care, led the department's legal response to the pandemic while also navigating EU Exit challenges. She is now Director General for Litigation with Justice and Security at GLD In this episode, Mel shares insights from her experiences so far, as well as the lessons she has learned from her role in both the response and inquiry. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show, Ben White, founder of Crafty Counsel, speaks with Natalie Salunke, an experienced GC from the Tech and other sectors who recently started her practice as a Fractional General Counsel, and Shrina Shah, formerly the Group General Counsel & Company Secretary at Puregym. In addition to their roles as in-house counsel, Natalie and Shrina have both taken on the additional responsibility of serving as Trustees. Shrina ventured into her first Trustee role in 2018 and presently holds the position of Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Kiln Theatre. Natalie occupies a dual trustee role, contributing her expertise to both Kent Union and the Young Urban Arts Foundation. In this episode, they explore their daily responsibilities, discuss why GCs are well-suited for these roles, and offer insights on balancing extracurricular commitments with professional responsibilities. This episode was kindly sponsored by Taylor Root, a global legal, risk and compliance search and recruitment consultancy. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Ben White, founder of Crafty Counsel, speaks with Shika Soni, Assistant General Counsel at Principal Asset Management. Before joining Principal, Shika worked as Senior Legal Counsel at Royal London Asset Management. She also spent time in New York on secondment from Orchard Solicitors, where she passed the NY Bar exams and became admitted in New York State. Alongside her career, Shika serves as a mentor to a large number of lawyers and aspiring lawyers, as well as individuals exploring careers in law or financial services. In this conversation, Shika discusses the value of mentorship, reflecting on her own experiences and the impact it has had on her career. This episode was kindly sponsored by Taylor Root, a global legal, risk and compliance search and recruitment consultancy. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel's Founder, Ben White, sits down with Fintech Day 2023 speaker Chrissy Hill (General Counsel at Parity Technologies). Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Chrissy discusses her move to the UK in 2002. She shares her journey from Linklaters to Barclays and then recounts her nearly decade-long experience working with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, where she provided operational, legal, and regulatory guidance. Currently serving as General Counsel for a software developer (and leading contributor to Polkadot), Chrissy also discusses her experience working in the blockchain space and explores the longevity and relevance of blockchain technology and AI. She shares her expectations that the impact and influence of these technologies will continue to evolve and become seamlessly integrated into our lives, ultimately serving as tools that improve various aspects of our daily reality. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Ben White, founder of Crafty Counsel, speaks with Stephanie-Kate Bratton, General Counsel at AgriFutures, Australia. Stephanie's journey as a lawyer began in Sydney, Australia, where she worked as a lawyer at Clayton Utz and stayed for several years, honing her legal skills. However, her story took a fascinating turn in 2016 when she decided to transition from private practice to in-house lawyering. She relocated across the globe to join Amazon in Seattle as corporate counsel. In the midst of her career and far from home, Stephanie battled kidney disease, and in a surprising turn of events, she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Missing home, she moved back to Sydney with Amazon in 2020 before taking on her current role as General Counsel at AgriFutures. During the course of this conversation, Stephanie speaks about health issues, hidden disabilities, life in a different country, and her book, “My Mummy is a Lawyer," which brilliantly simplifies the diverse roles of lawyers, using concepts that little ones can understand. The book has not only created a sense of community and connection among working mothers but has also highlighted the importance of embracing the multifaceted roles that mothers play. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Ben White, founder of Crafty Counsel sits down with Simon Duffield, Lead, Legal - COVAX, at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Simon shares his professional journey, which began with a career in London as a trainee at Linklaters, where he stayed for over 11 years. In 2019, he then made the move to Switzerland and in-house to join Verisure as Group Corporate & Transactions Counsel. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Simon joined Gavi to support the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Simon reflects on the pandemic, its impact, and his unique role as a lawyer actively working to ensure that vaccines reached those in need during a time of unprecedented crisis. He also discusses the excellent work that Gavi does and its global impact, which has led to the immunisation of over a billion children through various programmes over the years. This episode was kindly sponsored by Re:link Linklaters, the premium contract lawyer platform from Linklaters. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel's Founder, Ben White sits down with one of our Fintech Day speakers, Kate Luton (Senior Counsel at Motive Partners). Kate shares her journey from private practice to in-house roles in the legal tech and fintech industries, shedding light on the unique challenges and opportunities she's encountered along the way. Kate's experience working with startups and established law firms has given her a fresh perspective on the legal industry. She highlights the importance of diversity of thought, collaboration across teams, and the entrepreneurial mindset required to thrive in these dynamic environments. This episode was kindly sponsored by Ignition Law, an entrepreneurial law firm supporting startups, scale-ups, and growing businesses. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

The Crafty Show is back! Launching season 4 with this special episode featuring the awesome keynote that Andy Cooke, General Counsel at TravelPerk, delivered at Crafty Fest in June 2023. Andy takes us on a journey - delving into the headwinds facing the legal industry today, addressing issues such as changing client demands, evolving knowledge consumption patterns, and the crucial role of trust in the profession. He also discusses the impact of AI technology on the legal landscape and how it's reshaping our approach to legal work. Andy provides valuable insights into how legal professionals can thrive amidst these challenges. He explores the concept of treating legal as a product and emphasises the importance of customer-centricity. He shares his experiences in trying innovative approaches and embracing change to find greater fulfilment and create value in the legal field. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel’s Founder, Ben White sits down with Leisa Turner, General Counsel - Eurasia at Komatsu Mining Corp. Leisa takes us through her career journey which saw her starting her career at Blake Dawson in Australia before making the jump in-house to a mining company, Joy Global Inc. From there, Leisa then took another leap as she moved to the UK to become Joy Global’s first General Counsel for Eurasia and build the legal function for the region. In 2016, Joy Global was acquired by Komatsu Mining Corp in a global acquisition. Leisa talks to us about the wide variety of things she's achieved in the 12+ years she's been with Joy Global (now Komatsu). From establishing a new legal function and working on both sides of acquisitions, to tackling a male-dominated industry to become the first woman AND lawyer on the regional management board. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register for the Crafty Counsel Community for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel’s Founder, Ben White sits down with Rhian Ravenscroft, Head of Legal EMEA at MarketAxess. Rhian talks us through her career journey so far which included a later start to her legal career and then making the move in-house at only one year PQE. In 2018, Rhian also moved to Amsterdam with MarketAxess to establish their European office post-Brexit. This conversation also explores Rhian's passions for mentoring and cycling. Within her role at MarketAxess, Rhian is involved in their mentoring scheme. Whilst outside of this, she has competed in cycling and is now on the Board of the Cyclists Alliance. Rhian talks to us about how Cyclists Alliance are providing holistic support to female cyclists, and shares her experience of building strategy, awareness, lobbying the sports governing body, and building the mentor programme. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register on the Crafty Counsel website for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel's Founder, Ben White sits down with Sofia Gohir, a senior in-house lawyer. Sofia talks us through her varied career journey. From starting as a paralegal in London during the financial crash, to making the jump and working in legal operations for Coca-Cola in Dubai. Sofia also shares her experience of moving back to the UK after many years in Dubai and the differences between the two. Subscribe to The Crafty Show wherever you get your podcast. Find comprehensive show notes for this episode (and more content) on the Crafty Counsel website. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register on the Crafty Counsel website for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel's Founder, Ben White sits down with Richard Given, Group General Counsel at OpenPayd. Richard talks us through his varied in-house legal career which started with Cisco Systems and HSBC. After five years with HSBC, Richard then made the jump to Fintech startup world with 10x Banking before his current role as Group General Counsel with OpenPayd. Alongside his busy legal career, Richard also used to play rugby for Sarcaens and co-founded Longlands - a luxury glamping experience in Devon. This conversation is a fascinating look at Richard's career. Similarly, Richard provides insights on building legal functions from the ground up and the importance of remembering your role as a lawyer in upholding the law. Subscribe to The Crafty Show wherever you get your podcast. Find comprehensive show notes for this episode (and more content) on the Crafty Counsel website. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register on the Crafty Counsel website for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, Crafty Counsel's Founder, Ben White sits down with Laura Jeffords Greenberg, Interim General Counsel at Worksome based in Denmark. Laura talks us through her incredible career journey in this episode. From starting out at the National Football League in New York and a brief stint in private practice in LA, to moving in-house once more, but across the world this time to Red Bull Media House in Austria. With such a variety of in-house legal roles between Europe and the US, Laura provides a look at her experiences, including cultural differences in new countries and adjusting to a new sector. This conversation also touches briefly upon technology, especially the potential of AI, for in-house legal teams. Subscribe to The Crafty Show wherever you get your podcast. Find comprehensive show notes for this episode (and more content) on the Crafty Counsel website. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register on the Crafty Counsel website for free.

In the latest episode of The Crafty Show podcast, we delve into the world of Jordan Breslow, a seasoned former General Counsel whose expert advice and timely intervention saved his CEO from potential jail time. Jordan talks to us about his experience working in California’s flowering ecosystem of innovation and tech in the past decades. This conversation takes a focused look at Jordan’s time with Opsware and the role he played in preventing his CEO and one of the most important venture capitalists, Ben Horowitz, from facing prison. Jordan reflects on this experience - including the responsibility of the General Counsel in saying “no” when necessary, the question reporting lines for General Counsel, and building a culture grounded in transparency where people can speak up. Subscribe to The Crafty Show wherever you get your podcast. Find comprehensive show notes for this episode (and more content) on the Crafty Counsel website. Join the Crafty Counsel Community to discover a space where in-house legal professionals can find joy, insight, and connection. Register on the Crafty Counsel website for free.

In this episode of The Crafty Show, Ben White (Founder & CEO at Crafty Counsel) is joined by two guests - Sharon Harris, an experienced General Counsel turned Executive, and Alexandra Badel, Head of Legal for Morgan Sindall Infrastructure. During their time together at Costain, Alex and Sharon did something unusual by actually sharing the role of General Counsel. This conversation explores this experience and what in-house legal professionals can learn from it. Look at everything from the unexpected surprises, and reality of making it work, to Sharon and Alex's key advice for others considering job sharing. This episode was kindly sponsored by Taylor Root, a global legal, risk and compliance search and recruitment consultancy. At Crafty Counsel, we provide an authentic, collaborative community for in-house legal professionals seeking joy, insight, and connection in their careers. With members from across the globe, representing a diverse range of professional backgrounds, our community is a hub for sharing experiences and forming invaluable connections. You can register to join the Crafty Counsel community for free.

In this last episode of Season Two of The Crafty Show, we pulled together some of the nuggets of wisdom our interviewees shared with us. We asked whether there was any advice they had been given that they use…. We spoke to several lawyers with fascinating career stories. We spoke to a former Olympic fencer and learned that no matter how successful you are, even the best lawyers can suffer from imposter syndrome. Explored how dyslexic thinking can be a great strength for a lawyer and can assist in the problem-solving part of the job. We discovered the charitable causes members of Crafty Counsel’s community are passionate about and give their time to as trustees. We even learned from in-house lawyers who support Saas and blockchain companies and spoke about Crypto and the metaverse. Counsel’s podcast focuses on the career journeys of in-house lawyers. Crafty Counsel is on a mission to spread joy, insight and connection for in-house legal professionals, and we host online and in-person events. Crafty Counsel's community of in-house lawyers meet up regularly, online and at in-person events, to discuss ideas, offer support and network. If you want to know more, why not sign up to the community?

In this episode of the Crafty Show, we are joined by Emma Haywood, Associate General Counsel at Babylon, an international digital healthcare company. Before joining Babylon’s in-house team in April 2021, Emma worked at the Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May for eight years. Emma graduated with a first-class degree in Modern and Medieval languages from the University of Cambridge. Emma is a mentor with The Social Mobility Foundation and leads a mentoring partnership between Babylon’s legal team and a mentoring charity called GROW. Among other things Emma talks about her career journey from the Magic Circle to in-house counsel in the healthcare sector, what she learned from moving in-house, her passion for social mobility and mentoring and what brings her joy. Emma is part of Crafty Counsel's community of in-house lawyers who meet up regularly, online and at in-person events, to discuss ideas, offer support and network. If you would like to know more why not sign up to the community?

In this episode of The Crafty Show, we are joined by Harpreet Kaur Mangat, in-house counsel at Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation). Before joining Sony in July 2019, Harpreet worked as in-house counsel at YouGov. She also worked at Amazon twice in the more recent role at the company, she focused on regulatory dispute resolution and also provided legal support to Amazon’s Advertising and Loss Prevention teams. Harpreet started her career as a paralegal in London before moving to New York City for work. A role as a paralegal at Japan Tobacco International brought her back to the UK again. She is one of the founding Trustees of Making Mum Proud, a charitable organisation that supports young students who lost a parent or guardian to meet their educational goals. Among other things Harpreet talks about her career journey, the highlights and challenges of working in-house, her work at Playstation and her passion for helping young people who have faced adversity. Harpreet is part of Crafty Counsel's community of in-house lawyers who meet up regularly, online and at in-person events, to discuss ideas, offer support and network. If you would like to know more why not sign up to the community?