General counsel, Joseph Group

After several years dissecting meaning as a bilingual lexicographer, I wanted to apply my semantic skills to another area. I therefore applied to read jurisprudence at Queen’s College, Oxford, and completed the degree in two years.

I trained at Slaughter and May. The training was excellent and set extremely high standards.

As general counsel, my area of law is very broad and I am particularly interested in cross-jurisdictional issues (my remit in the Joseph Group is international). More specifically, I am interested in the differences between French and English law. The Franco-British Lawyers Society (FBLS) is an excellent forum for exploring these differences.

As well as being general counsel for the Joseph Group, I sit on the international board, have direct management responsibilities for French subsidiaries and am honoured to have recently been appointed vice-president of the FBLS. The challenge is really for my PA, requiring her great skill in managing my diary.

While I remember the all-nighters in the corporate world of mergers and acquisitions, and juggling the needs and requests of different clients, I am now delighted to work for a single client in an especially congenial and glamorous environment.

The FBLS brings together distinguished lawyers from France, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England to promote greater understanding of the laws of different jurisdictions through seminars and academic prizes.

I have found that my experience as general counsel at Joseph has enabled me to comment on cross-jurisdictional matters debated at FBLS seminars.

I have welcomed the relaxation of restrictive 19th century formal dress, which allows me to more easily wear the fabulous Joseph designs in the office.

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