Notonthehighstreet GC Kate Burns

The rise of 'millennials' and 'Gen Z' has created a climate in which established hierarchies and time-honoured practices are being challenged. We're seeing a blurring between work and home, fewer lawyers choosing the partnership path, and more entrepreneurialism.

Assured in her understanding that "law is no longer the lifelong vocation it used to be", Notonthehighstreet's general counsel Kate Burns believes her company's "different" business model has been pivotal to its success in attracting and inspiring this next generation of leaders.

Burns – who is today taking part in a discussion on the topic at an event for law networking group Women, Influence & Power in Law (WIPL) – speaks to Law.com's Legal Week about the challenges facing her industry, diversity, and why some legal departments are transforming while others are falling behind.

What are some legal issues unique to your industry?

"Marketplaces, particularly retail marketplaces, may initially seem straightforward but each one generally has a different model (and one size does not fit all in terms of regulation). Many face complex regulatory questions as, often, the law hasn't quite yet caught up with how they operate on a day-to-day basis.

"An important piece of legislation that all marketplaces are looking at right now is the Platform to Business regulations, which take effect in July 2020 and aim to create a level playing field for the small businesses that use market places to sell their products or services."

In your industry specifically, why is the role of legal so key?

"The really exciting thing about Notonthehighstreet is its purpose. It's great to be able to walk into work every day and know that your work contributes to enabling 5,000 small creative businesses (our partners) to grow by connecting them to the world. We work in a scale-up, entrepreneurial culture and legal is right there in the mix working alongside the other teams. In particular, legal helps the team to navigate the more quirky legal and regulatory position that marketplaces occupy."

How are firms/legal teams falling behind in inspiring the next generation of legal professionals and why? What are the risks to a legal team that doesn't engage their newest members?

"I believe that the next generation of legal professionals is looking for businesses with credible purpose and those that enable flexibility. The next generation is not afraid to work hard but they want to be measured by their output and have the ability to work in the way in which they have grown up, where there is less delineation between 'work' and 'home'.

"A particular issue seems to me to be that the next generation is not afraid to challenge and this is something that does not sit well in the traditionally hierarchical legal profession, where the right to challenge is 'earned' with experience. Managers of legal teams need to find the right forum for that challenge to be heard.

"Finally, I believe that law is no longer the lifelong vocation it used to be. Fewer of the next generation see themselves as being a lawyer forever but see it more as a step towards the next thing. In particular, it perhaps no longer has the same financial attraction. The entrepreneurs created through social media show that there are other ways in the modern world to make steady money."

What have you learnt from inspiring the next generation at Notonthehighstreet and what have you found to be successful?

"As a 13-year-old ecommerce business we have a different model and approach, and we find that this does attract and inspire the next generation – the average age of people in our business is 31. Most importantly, our purpose is strong and we ensure that our people are regularly in touch with it – we all meet our partners on a regular basis and we have a scheme where our people can spend a day in our partners' businesses.

"Our culture is entrepreneurial and lean. We have a flat hierarchy and are informal right down to the way in which we use our office space, communicate and dress. We have an open mind on flexibility. We try to be light on bureaucracy, for example, encouraging regular feedback in place of formal appraisals. We use a digital company engagement system, which gives immediate results and can be acted upon quickly. We spend a lot of time on recruitment to ensure that the people who we bring in share the same values."

What else are young staff looking for both from employers and in the workplace?

"A workplace where they can learn and develop, and be inspired. A workplace that sees them as an individual and values their individual contribution. Flexibility."

Has Notonthehighstreet put an increasing focus on diversity and inclusion over time? How can firms and in-house legal teams achieve better diversity?

"About 80% of Notonthehighstreet's staff members are women. About 85% of Notonthehighstreet's partners and customers are women. As a business with two female founders and a female CEO, we have always been champions of gender diversity, but over time we are absolutely increasing our focus on diversity and inclusion. It starts with a good recruitment process. It's then really important to have a culture that is well educated on differences, makes no assumptions and enables everyone to feel like they belong.

"I've been particularly interested recently to observe law firms' recruitment process in action, and I believe they are still not set up to uncover the candidates who have excellent potential even if they don't necessarily have excellent university results (for good reason), or have not necessarily followed the traditional path."

What are some other challenges facing legal teams and how are they being overcome?

"I am afraid that the answer to this continues to be lack of resource for in-house teams both in budget and headcount, and a lack of real understanding between firms and their clients. Legal teams continue to turn to alternative legal providers to solve these problems but, actually, I believe that the firms that begin truly to understand their clients and build meaningful relationships will be able to reverse that trend."

Women, Influence & Power in Law UK will take place on November 19-21, 2019. A significant event in the U.S., the event is now launching in London. The women-only space will see top in-house and private practice lawyers come together to discuss the biggest issues in today's legal market. For more information and to buy tickets see here.