Counsel's Collective – Details, episodes & analysis

Sam McGinty is the Lead General Counsel at the University of Nottingham.

In this episode, Sam came on to chat openly and honestly about his career as an in-house lawyer in higher education - the kind where “never a dull day” is less slogan and more survival strategy. Sam shared why he made the leap to Nottingham from a job he loved at Loughborough and what it really takes to manage pressure when you’re trying to be a leader, a parent, a partner, and a functioning human.

We also get into the surprisingly emotional rollercoaster of LinkedIn visibility (yes, that top legal poster list), why boundaries aren’t a wellness buzzword, and how learning what not to worry about might be the most underrated General Counsel skill of all.

Expect to learn:

• Why higher education is under serious strain - and why it can be the most interesting place for lawyers to do their best work

• How to make a “stretch move” as a GC without spiralling into I should already know where the tea and bathroom is energy

• What burnout can look like in real life and why talking about it actually helps

• How Sam approaches boundaries, overwhelm, and the art of saying “no” without feeling like you’ve committed a felony

• Why LinkedIn can be more than algorithms and ego - and how using your voice can genuinely open doors

Want to get in touch with Sam?
Slide into his LinkedIn (professionally, please) and tell him you’re here to help maintain his totally chill and not-at-all stressful Top Legal Poster reputation: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelmcginty/🙃

Want to get in touch with us?

This podcast is hosted by Workgroup - where we do group therapy style events for senior leaders: https://workgroup-events.com/about 

Sarah Clark is CEO at The Legal Director and a former General Counsel.

In this episode, Sarah talks honestly about her own journey with ADHD, leadership, and why “attention deficit” might be one of the most misleading labels going.

Drawing on her own late diagnosis and a zig-zag legal career spanning criminal law, in-house roles, private practice, and now scale-up leadership, Sarah shares what it really means to understand how your brain works - and to stop trying to force yourself into someone else’s mould.

We talk corkscrew brains, burnout cycles, rejection sensitivity, and the quiet grief that can come with looking back on your career, and life, through a new lens. Sarah also makes a compelling (and very commercially sound) case for why workplaces -especially law firms - are committing a catastrophic waste of talent by not designing roles and teams around how humans actually function at their best.

Expect to learn:

• Why ADHD isn’t a deficit of attention so much as an abundance of attention - and what that changes at work
• What a “corkscrew brain” is and why it’s exactly what organisations need more of
• How better self-understanding can break burnout cycles and lead to more consistent success
• Why pairing people like an orchestra (visionaries + finishers) beats forcing everyone to do everything
• How psychological safety, asking for help, and ditching the “shoulds” can unlock both wellbeing and performance
• A simple “passport” idea that could radically improve how teams communicate and collaborate

Want to get in touch with Sarah?
She loves connecting so drop into her LinkedIn DMs but don’t email her. Outlook is her nemesis! - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-clark-49211533/

Want to get in touch with us?

This podcast is hosted by Workgroup — where we do group-therapy-style events for senior leaders:
https://workgroup-events.com/about

P.S. The fantastic article written about Sarah’s keynote talk at the Lawvu conference we reference in the podcast can be read here - https://legalleaders.lawvu.com/article/brilliance-in-chaos-struggle-in-routine/

Bonike Bracewell, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Save the Children UK, came on Counsel’s Collective to talk about a side of legal leadership most people never see: leading teams and managing legal risk when your organisation is operating in war zones, responding to humanitarian crises, and navigating deeply emotional geopolitical conflict in real time.

We also get into the realities of employee activism, leading through emotionally charged global events like the war in Gaza, and why creating “safe spaces” for difficult conversations becomes much harder when those issues are directly tied to your organisation’s day-to-day work.

And alongside all of that, Bonike speaks incredibly honestly about being one of the first black female General Counsels in the international development sector, the daily microaggressions and unconscious bias she’s faced throughout her career and why representation in leadership genuinely matters.

It’s a conversation about leadership, purpose, burnout, identity, geopolitics and the kind of emotional intelligence modern GCs increasingly need.

Expect to learn:
• Why legal teams in the charity sector are often underestimated despite managing incredibly high-risk work
• How employee activism and geopolitical conflict are changing leadership responsibilities for GCs
• What it’s like leading legal and governance functions in organisations working in war zones
• Why mission-driven organisations can sometimes create unhealthy working cultures and burnout
• How Bonike navigated conscious and unconscious bias as a black female leader
• The subtle microaggressions that still exist in senior legal environments
• Why aspiring GCs should focus more on their strengths than chasing titles

If you’d like to get in touch with Bonike, please reach out to her linkedin over here- https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonike-e-77418635/

Sam Plant, former General Counsel at Muller, spent years thinking he was one of the good guys.

He wasn’t behaving badly, he wasn’t saying outrageous things, and he definitely wasn’t seeing himself as part of the problem. But as he started having more honest conversations with women around him, he realised that not doing harm and actively helping to change things are very different things.

In this episode, Sam talks about what shifted his perspective on gender equality, the privileges many male leaders move through work with without ever noticing and why a lack of curiosity about other people’s experience can quietly make you a worse leader.

We get into who gets interrupted, who gets believed, who gets seen as senior, who feels safe, who has to shape-shift to fit in and why culture change is usually less about grand statements and more about the small daily behaviours people let slide.

Expect to learn:

• Why “I’m one of the good guys” is not the same as being an active ally
• How invisible privilege shapes confidence, credibility and career progression at work
• What male leaders often miss about women’s everyday experience of the workplace
• Why curiosity, not guilt, is a much better starting point for change
• How defensiveness shuts down conversations about gender equality before they’ve even started
• A few very simple things men can start doing immediately to broaden their perspective

If you’d like to get in touch with Sam (I’d highly recommend), you can reach him on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-plant-02573349/

Henry Nelson Case: lawyer, TedX speaker and content creator came on Counsel’s Collective to talk about the kind of legal career story we do not hear enough about - the one where a toxic early experience could easily have knocked everything off course, but instead became the catalyst for something much bigger.

In this episode, Henry shares what it was really like working in an environment so hostile it left him anxious, exhausted, and questioning whether he was cut out for the profession at all and how it ultimately pushed him towards building the online platform and community he is now known for.

It’s a conversation about bullying, burnout, identity, generational change, social mobility, side hustles, LinkedIn, and why being “just a lawyer” is no longer enough for a lot of people entering the profession.

Expect to learn:

1. What psychological safety actually looks like in a legal team (beyond the buzzword)
2. Why Gen Z lawyers are rethinking ambition, success and traditional partnership paths
3. How personal brands and online platforms can support social mobility in the legal profession
4. How leaders can attract and retain younger talent in a profession that is rapidly changing

A really honest one and a very good reminder that the job you start in does not get to define who you become.

If you'd like to get in touch with Henry- pop him a message over on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrynelsoncase/

Beth Sherman is an emmy-winning comedian and comedy writer (30 years in TV - Letterman, The Tonight Show, Ellen… casual) who now works as a keynote speaker helping leaders communicate like comedians: quickly, clearly, and with actual human connection.

In this episode, Beth breaks down how comedians create rapport with strangers in seconds and why the same skills matter in law and leadership.

You’ll learn:

• Why “you can’t convert until you connect” is the real communication cheat code
• How to build “rapid rapport” without trying to be funny
• The BETH framework: Brevity, Elephant in the room, Truth, Humanity
• Why fewer words = more impact (yes, lawyers, I’m looking at you)
• How to acknowledge what everyone’s thinking so it stops hijacking the room
• What to do when your attempt at humour… dies on stage (or in the meeting)

If you’ve ever delivered a perfectly logical message and watched it land like a soggy biscuit - this one will help.

If you’d like to get in touch with Beth- pop her a message over on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-sherman/

Andy Stewart spent 40 years as a lawyer - and quietly battled depression for the last 20 of them.

In this episode of Counsel’s Collective, Andy shares the reality of building a successful legal career while struggling behind the scenes: the perfectionism, the people-pleasing, the 4am drafting sessions, and the stigma that kept him silent for nearly two decades.

We also talk about what actually helps when the job is relentless - from creating “non-negotiables” that protect your sanity, to building psychologically safe legal teams where people can say “I’m not okay” (or “I’ve made a mistake”) without fearing career suicide.

Expect to learn:

• Why the traits that make lawyers successful can also be the biggest mental health risk factors
• The difference between perfectionism and fear of failure (and why it matters)
• Early warning signs you might be heading toward burnout or depression
• How to handle the “150-item to-do list” reality when your workload is bigger than your capacity
• What psychological safety actually looks like inside legal teams (beyond the poster on the wall)
• Andy’s simplest mindset shift for surviving legal life: embrace the chaos

If you’re a GC, in-house lawyer, partner, or rising star who’s ever thought “I just need to push through” - this one might land a little too accurately (in the best way).

And Andy’s on LinkedIn… so yes, I am also encouraging you to go follow him and politely bully him into posting more- https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-stewart-358bab2/

Electra, Chief Product Officer and ex-Chief Legal Officer and at SimpleDocs, is deep in the legal AI world (and refreshingly honest about what it can actually do).

In this episode of Counsel’s Collective, we get into the messy middle of AI adoption in legal: the hype, the disappointment, and the reality check that sits somewhere in between.

Electra explains why the “AI will replace lawyers” panic misses the point, why AI might force the profession to level up, and what General Counsel should be focusing on if they want to future-proof their teams.

Expect to learn:

• The biggest myths and misconceptions about legal AI (spoiler: expecting
• How to actually get better at prompting (including letting the AI teach you how to prompt it)
• What AI means for junior lawyer training (and why “asking why” becomes a superpower)
• The billable hour vs AI: the pricing mismatch everyone feels but no one has solved (yet)
• Data, ethics, and why your AI policy might need to be… a TikTok (yes, really)
• Electra’s crystal ball: how the GC role shifts toward systems-thinking and “legal embedded into the DNA” of the business

If you’re a GC/legal leader trying to work out what’s real, what’s noise, and what you should do next - this one’s for you.

If you enjoyed this episode and would like to reach out to Electra- pop her a message over on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/electra-japonas/

Allia Khan is Head of Legal at Polo Works and the founder of Mansion 28 – a luxury modest wear brand that she describes not as a “side hustle”, but simply as part of who she is.

In this episode, Allia shares what running Mansion 28 has taught her about creativity, questioning processes, and leading younger generations differently – and how that’s reshaped her legal leadership.

You’ll learn:

• Why “imposter syndrome” might just be growth in disguise
• How to start a business before you feel ready (and why waiting is the real risk)
• What reverse mentoring can teach senior leaders
• How to balance discipline and creativity across two very different worlds
• Why comparison kills momentum - and how to stay focused on your own lane

If you’ve ever waited to feel “ready” before doing the thing  then this one’s for you.

Allia is always up for connecting with people- get in touch with her over LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/allia-k-16279621a/

Take a peak at Allia's bold and disruptive fashion brand here- https://www.mansion28.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopJ8HLdbftok37wqVLe9QMPDDpswQ-DmRMlHa3qBPCNqEX5Qe72