Expanding horizons

Both Carol and Selina moved into the non-executive part of their career, not because they were unhappy with their positions at Herbert Smith Freehills, but because they each were looking for new opportunities. As Selina notes, it was a chance to get to work with different-sized companies to those she had advised as a corporate and M&A lawyer, as well as not-for-profits and charities, and to see how her cross-sector experience and knowledge of business transactions, risk management and governance might assist them.

Carol agrees. “There are essentially three main strands to the nonexec role: strategy, governance and finance. If you can bring your knowledge and experience in those areas, or at least in two of them, and apply them to the particular role, your input is likely to be very helpful. As lawyers, we can offer our own perspective, adding to the mix of skills on the Board.”

Reasons for taking on the roles

Interestingly, both say that they quickly ruled out either going to another firm or moving in-house. Selina, who was a partner of HSF for 10 years and then a consultant, says: “What was attractive to me about a non-executive board career was the opportunity to work in different businesses on a longer-term basis, being one step closer to them, rather than being a legal adviser – as much as I enjoyed that. And that is how it has transpired for me: I have had the chance to become deeply involved in new sectors and industries that previously were not necessarily my core focus, which has been a great opportunity.”

For example, Selina’s board role with Hydro Tasmania has enabled her to become involved with a business very much part of the transition to renewable energy. She is also a great follower of Australian Rules football, which definitely encouraged her to become involved with the North Melbourne Football Club. Carol was not familiar with the world of primary school education (other than through her children) but was attracted to helping children and young people. She has enjoyed the huge amount of knowledge she has gained through her involvement in the Agora Learning Partnership.

Governance is the primary focus of Carol’s roles. That links with her time at Herbert Smith Freehills where she was for many years responsible for the Corporate practice’s knowledge management and also increasingly assisted clients with advice on compliance and governance, as companies have had to deal with more and more complex regulations. As she points out, corporate governance is constantly changing – and, indeed, the UK regulator is currently in the process of changing its corporate governance code once again. 

“Corporate governance is an interesting mixture of law, regulation and best practice. And the challenge – and interest – is seeing how it is put into practice by individual companies and other entities,” Carol says. She certainly has her work cut out at Companies House which is undergoing a big transformation, including an extensive digitalisation programme and preparing for new legislative objectives and powers which will significantly reshape its role.

For both Carol and Selina, an added motive for taking on non-executive or trustee roles was to see how their skills they had gained as corporate lawyers could be put to good use in the charitable or not-for-profit sectors – giving something back. 

Even though each of Selina and Carol left the firm without having a definite board membership which they could take up, they both strongly recommend anyone thinking of doing non-executive director work to gain some prior experience, not only for insights into the workings of a board, but also to test whether a full-time board career is right for them. They recognise that achieving that, when working full-time at the law firm, may not always be possible. But it does not necessarily have to be a board role or something that comes with a significant time commitment. It could for example be a volunteering role, or involvement with industry bodies.

Both Carol and Selina are absolutely clear that they made the right choice in their career path and that others at the latter stage of their legal careers could benefit, too. Time to write those CVs!