How we've supported Emerald Publishing with interim lawyers

Emerald Publishing is one of the world's leading digital-first publishers, commissioning, curating and showcasing research that can make a real difference. They work with thousands of universities and business schools across the world to share knowledge and provoke the kind of debate that leads to positive change. The legal team is a key stakeholder in strategic decision-making at Emerald and they work closely with colleagues at all levels across the Group to deliver solutions that drive the business forward.

When Emma Tregenza, General Counsel at Emerald, came to us in March 2021 with a request for maternity cover for a senior commercial lawyer, we were thrilled to rise to the challenge. Their ideal candidate needed to be between 4-7 years’ PQE, with strong academics and law firm training. They also needed some experience in a commercial contracting role, preferably with technology and data privacy specialisms.

After searching our pool of available lawyers, we found the perfect candidate - Heather, a lawyer with 8 years’ PQE who trained in-house at the nursery retailer Mamas & Papas with external secondments at law firms such as Pinsent Masons, and who worked as an in-house commercial lawyer in various sectors for the rest of her career including retail, manufacturing and logistics. Based in Leeds, Heather was in an ideal location to join their Bingley Headquarters and wanted to make the move to interim legal work to improve her overall life/work balance.

Heather has settled into the role incredibly well, providing legal support to key stakeholders across the business on a range of issues including customer sales contracts, supplier contracts, data privacy and IP. We’re delighted that Heather has made such a positive impact and Emerald have now extended her contract until June 2022.

Due to this great experience, Heather was quick to come to Flex when Emerald’s legal team needed a mid-level commercial lawyer last November. Again they were looking for a candidate with strong academics and experience in a commercial contracting role and data privacy.

Another search of our platform for lawyers and we found Nathalie - a newly qualified solicitor with 6 years’ legal experience overall in commercial contracts, IP, data protection, corporate governance and litigation, who was looking for a new opportunity to support her career development as a lawyer. Emerald welcomed applications from candidates who were wishing to work remotely, and so Nathalie is currently lucky enough to be working as a remote lawyer from sunny Mauritius.

We’ve really enjoyed working with Emerald, and we’re so pleased we’ve been able to support their busy in-house legal team with this full package of both senior and mid-level commercial lawyers.

We spoke to both Heather and Nathalie to get some feedback on their experience of working for Emerald Publishing through Flex:

Heather: “This has been a great first role working through Flex for Emerald. The legal team at Emerald are a lovely bunch and they’ve made me feel very welcome and part of the team. The role has been a true in-house role, with a wide range of interesting commercial work mainly contracts and data privacy focused, which I’ve enjoyed getting stuck into!”

Nathalie: “Working through Flex for Emerald has been a great experience for me, a truly wide-ranging in-house role with lots of opportunities for me as a junior lawyer covering a real mix of work from commercial to data privacy. Everyone at Emerald has been very friendly and helpful which has helped me settle into my role from the start.”

Additional Resources:

• Hire now - want to take on some top quality candidates like Heather and Nathalie? Check out our ‘hire’ page today to find the paralegals and lawyers you need.
• Client FAQ’s - still unsure about what we do at Flex Legal? Then visit our FAQ page which should hopefully answer all of your questions.
• Kraft Heinz Case Study - read all about how we helped Kraft Heinz to hire flexible, quality candidates during peak workloads and meet their internal targets.