Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a lawyer at Linklaters, specialising in major energy and infrastructure projects for clients in the public and private sectors. I have advised the British Government on the development and delivery of some of the largest and most complex domestic energy and infrastructure projects in recent years. In the defence sector, I have worked on the Ministry of Defence’s naval ships acquisition programme since 2016, advising on the Type 26, Type 31 and offshore patrol vessel programmes. In addition to supporting DESNZ on various aspects of the new Sizewell C nuclear project since 2019, I have had leading roles in some of the biggest rail industry projects in recent years – most notably, negotiating the emergency funding package between DfT and TfL to enable Crossrail to be completed, and writing the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements which were designed to stabilise the rail industry during the Covid-19 pandemic and brought an end to national franchising arrangements in the UK. In the private sector, I enjoy advising a range of clients on projects involving regulated utilities as well as working for large financial sponsors and lenders to major projects.

Outside of work, I love travelling with my husband and our two children, and I am partway through my mission to run the original six World Marathon Majors in aid of leukaemia-related charities – with London, Berlin, New York and Chicago under my belt, it’s just Tokyo and Boston left to go! I have also spent the past two years learning to understand myself better, after being diagnosed Autistic at the age of 35, a year after my daughter’s Autism diagnosis.

Can you share your journey into your law career?

For a long time I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to be a lawyer or a teacher, so I decided to study Theology at university to buy myself a bit more time to decide what to do. While I was at university, I went to a legal careers event hosted by Linklaters and was drawn to the idea of applying for a summer vacation scheme – not just because the work sounded incredibly interesting, but also because the people I spoke to were all so friendly and welcoming. I had such fun during the summer vacation scheme that accepting the offer of a training contract was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. I sat in four different departments during my two year training contract but it was energy and infrastructure that really captivated me – I love the tangibility of what we do and the excitement of contributing to essential infrastructure in the UK and around the world.

How did you come to work in the defence sector and what motivated you to pursue and excel in this field?

Being honest, I was in the right place at the right time. MoD is a long-standing client of the firm, and defence work was something I’d had my eye on as a junior lawyer. Happily for me, at a time when I was looking to take on some new work, there were a couple of ship-building programmes that were reaching the stage where an increased level of legal input was going to be needed. I was originally told that I would probably be involved for around a year, but nearly a decade later defence work is still very much part of my job and one of my favourite topics! Geopolitics over the last few years has reinforced the importance of the defence sector and has given me a new respect for the crews who will be operating the vessels that we have spent so much time thinking about.

How has your role evolved over the years, and what pivotal moments shaped your career?

Working for the MoD has been a constant feature of my career. Having joined the MoD team as a very junior lawyer, I have moved from adapting DEFCONs and DEFSTANs into bespoke negotiated clauses to having a greater focus on the key commercial and policy drivers in a given scenario and developing tailored solutions and advice to meet the needs of the situation. In the defence world my development has been fairly gradual, given how long I have been involved in the work that I do. Outside of defence, the most pivotal moments have been when I have had a leading role on ‘once-or-twice in a career’ type projects, such as the work to stabilise and restructure the British rail industry during the pandemic, and advising the administrators to Bulb (the insolvent energy supply company) on the large and highly complex administration process that ended with Bulb being sold to Octopus. The Bulb work took place during the 2021/2022 energy price crisis, so there was a huge amount of scrutiny from the media, the public and politicians alike. There certainly haven’t been many dull moments!

What unique perspectives or skills do you bring to defence as a female leader in a traditionally male-dominated field?

I’m a very empathetic person, so I think my propensity to focus on the “human” side of things as well as thinking about legal and commercial matters is perhaps a bit different. When we’re drafting a contract, I tend to think about how it will work at the grass roots level and whether we have structured things in a way that will work for the people who have to build the vessels. I think women often have to navigate systems that weren’t really set up with us in mind, so we have first-hand experience of why it’s important to make sure that organisations, systems and structures are designed to be flexible and inclusive from the outset. This shapes my thinking in all areas of life, not just at work. Empathy has also helped me to build strong rapport with clients and colleagues over the years, which I love. I love being a mentor for the people I work with and getting to know them as individuals. I take real pleasure in seeing juniors who I have supported flourishing in their careers or navigating tricky situations with confidence.

What leadership principles guide you when managing teams or working with diverse stakeholders in the defence sector?

Communication is always key – and it goes both ways. I feel that it’s important to be clear with my team about what I need from them and expect from them, but I also like to ensure that they can also communicate openly and honestly with me about what they need or anything that they’re unsure about. The most effective teams that I have been part of have been teams where we have had open channels of regular communication. We do a very demanding job, so we all need support and motivation at times – being able to share a joke or provide someone with encouragement and reassurance at 2am during a crunch point is just as much a part of being a good leader as making sure that everyone knows what work they’re doing and what the deadline is. And I always like to keep people well fed because working while you’re hungry is never productive!

Can you share an instance where your leadership had a significant impact on a complex case or organisational challenge?

One example that stands out is when we were appointed by DfT to implement the rescue packages for the train operators during the pandemic, which were also used to bring an end to the rail franchising model in the UK. The project involved multiple stakeholders, including DfT, Network Rail, the rolling stock companies and the train operators, each with competing priorities. We had to complete the work within very tight timeframes during a period of great uncertainty. There was significant pressure to resolve a number of outstanding issues quickly, without compromising the rail services that key workers relied on to get to work. My role was to bring structure and clarity to a complicated set of overlapping legal, commercial and policy issues. I coordinated a cross-disciplinary team, ensured that each workstream had clear ownership, maintained regular communication with the client to keep them informed and confident throughout, and scheduled regular catch-ups with other law firms involved in the project. By taking a proactive approach – identifying potential risks early and working collaboratively with all parties to find pragmatic solutions – we were able to resolve the outstanding matters within the required timeframe and keep the project on track. In complex, high-stakes projects, people look to their lawyers not just for legal answers but for reassurance and clear direction, so remaining calm under pressure and being a steady presence for the client was critical during those months. That is something I now consciously bring to every matter I lead.

How do you ensure inclusivity and foster a culture of respect and diversity within your teams?

For me, it starts with being genuinely curious about the people I work with. Understanding what motivates each person, how they prefer to work, and what barriers they might face allows me to tailor my approach and ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to contribute and develop. I also believe strongly in leading by example, and that means being open myself. Sharing my Autism diagnosis with my team was a deliberate decision. I wanted to demonstrate that it is safe to bring your whole self to work, and to challenge any assumptions about what a senior lawyer looks like or how they operate. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and I hope it has encouraged others to be more open about their own experiences. On diversity, I have been increasingly involved in the firm-wide VisAbility network and supporting the roll-out of neurodiversity training across the firm, as well as having been a panellist at external events aimed at supporting disabled students to enter the legal profession. I think it is important that senior lawyers are visibly active in this type of work because the message it sends to junior colleagues about what the firm values is so important.

As a role model, how do you mentor and inspire younger professionals, especially women, aspiring to join the law field?

I try to approach career conversations in a way that is honest and practical for people who are still working out whether law is the right path for them, and how to get there. For aspiring lawyers and junior lawyers, one of the most valuable things a mentor can offer is a realistic picture of the profession – not just the highlights, but the realities of building a career in law. I try to have candid conversations about what the journey actually looks like, how to navigate the application process, and how to present yourself authentically.

There are still a lot of stereotypes and misunderstandings about what makes a good lawyer or whether you can juggle being a mum with being a lawyer. I try to address that directly – whether it relates to confidence, visibility, being open about wanting a family, or simply feeling that you belong in a profession where, at senior levels, women remain underrepresented. Being open about my own path, including sharing my own Autism diagnosis and the struggle that my husband I had as working parents while battling to get our daughter a school place and support plan from the local authority, has helped to reinforce the message that there is no single template for what a successful lawyer looks like. I hope that is genuinely encouraging to others.

I also try to be accessible and generous with my time. Whether that is speaking at internal or external events, going back to my old (state) school to do mock interviews with aspiring lawyers, or simply being available for honest conversations, I want people to come away feeling that a career in law is within their reach, and that the profession is richer for the full range of people who choose to pursue it.

How do you view the role of defence law evolving in response to new global threats, such as cyber warfare and autonomous technologies?

Putting aside questions about the legality of some of the current conflicts or acts of warfare, which are questions for highly specialist lawyers in international law and human rights law, from a corporate/commercial law perspective one of the big growth areas is intellectual property. The rapid development of different technologies, interaction with the space sector, increasing use of artificial intelligence and the risks associated with cyber warfare (among other things) mean that IP is a real hot topic. This is particularly the case where joint ventures or other forms of collaboration are being used to deliver defence technology and infrastructure.

The increase in global threats and rapid advancement of defence technology has caused a significant increase in defence spending from countries and supranational bodies around the world. This places increased pressure on the supply chain, which is already overstretched in some places, to be able to deliver new equipment. We are seeing increased consolidation within supply chains as well as an increase in private sector investment – particularly where new technology and/or increased demand may offer significant returns on investment. That said, some of the headline defence companies have reported significant losses on major defence contracts, and suppliers across all parts of the supply chain have been feeling the impacts of Brexit, Covid-19 and the energy crisis, so we are also seeing more distressed M&A activity as well as government interventions for certain industries that are critical to defence and other sectors. As an example, the steel industry has been a hot topic in recent years (look at the government intervention at the British Steel site in Scunthorpe) and will likely remain a key area of focus given the resurgence of the energy crisis and the impact of energy prices on steelworks. Investment in shipyards, munitions facilities and other key manufacturing sites is also something to watch – project finance structuring and subsidy control are two big areas that lawyers like me will be thinking about.

We will soon be issuing a brochure covering all of these topics in more detail if you want to know more!

What are the most pressing legal and ethical challenges you foresee in the defence sector over the next decade?

Lethal autonomous weapons systems (or LAWS) and the use of AI pose significant challenges. The regulation of LAWS has been debated for several years now, particularly the extent to which the use of LAWS complies with basic principles of humanitarian law. Deciding whether a course of action is proportionate often requires difficult and subjective judgments in the context of complex and rapidly evolving military scenarios – the prospect of delegating this sort of decision-making to machines raises significant concerns, aside from the significant practical challenges of training a machine to make such finely balanced decisions. The interaction between the defence sector and space sector is also likely to prove challenging. As defence increasingly relies on satellite technology and other key elements of space work, the limits of existing space regulation will be strongly tested. This is an area where we can expect to see significant developments, although the complexity of the issues may slow down decision-making.
It’s also important to mention ESG, which has become an increasingly important topic for businesses, investors and lenders over the last decade. Protests and boycotts involving key defence suppliers have made headlines over the last few years and will give lenders and investors pause for thought. That said, regulators in both Europe and the UK have not imposed restrictions on private sector investment in defence, and there is appetite for investment in the sector, so lenders and investors may not shy away from the sector, but they will want to undertake careful due diligence before doing so. Again, this is all covered in more detail in our upcoming brochure.

Working in defence and as a lawyer has historically been a male-dominated field. What challenges have you faced as a woman in this space, and how did you overcome them? Have you observed shifts in gender representation and attitudes within the defence sector during your career? What still needs improvement?

I think the challenges for me have been generally more subtle than overt. Being the only woman in the room on a regular basis can be intimidating, and it is something I’ve experienced more with defence work than in other sectors. That said, I’ve seen a significant shift in the last couple of years – it’s now fairly unusual to be the only woman in the room. In fact, when I recently attended an awards ceremony, we had an all-female team of Linklaters lawyers on stage to collect the award for European Law Firm of the Year, which certainly caught people’s attention. I work in a diverse team where I’ve had several female mentors and sponsors who have been very generous with their time to support me, both personally and professionally. I attribute so much of my career success to the amazing women around me, who have made a conscious effort to elevate the women in their teams. This is something I now try to emulate, and I am passionate about supporting the junior women in our team in the same way my senior colleagues have supported me.

I did have one particularly notable challenge when my daughter’s original school placement didn’t work out, as the school didn’t feel it could meet her needs, so we were left without a school while we waited for the local authority to allocate us a new placement. This happened while we were negotiating the contract for the second batch of Type 26 frigates. My parents were amazing at helping with childcare and homeschooling, but they came down with Covid when I had to be in all-day meetings on Type 26 and my husband had to attend a court hearing with his client. I called my supervising Partner in a panic about not being able to join the meetings and he simply said: “Just bring her – we’ll deal with it.”

Amazingly, Emily joined us for a whole day of Type 26 negotiations, which meant I wasn’t the only girl in the room that day. There was something very special about seeing her sitting around the table with a group of men in suits, just being herself while people took turns to sneakily pass her biscuits or watch Bluey with her. It meant that I could still lead the drafting negotiations, which was really important to me, but I also got to see a different side to the men who I had spent so much time negotiating with. The atmosphere of the meeting room was very different that day, and the men from MoD, BAE Systems and Linklaters all stepped up to be my ally on that occasion, which meant a lot during such a difficult period of life. It’s an unusual example, and certainly not one I would ever want to repeat, but it shows what an impact male allyship can have.

What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership roles in defence law or other challenging legal fields?

The same advice I would give to myself: be yourself – authentically, purposefully and unapologetically.

How can law organisations in general better support and promote gender diversity at senior levels?

I think there’s a lot to be said on this topic. Unconscious bias and better representation are often talked about, and that’s correct. But for me, flexible and agile working is probably the most significant factor – it’s something that needs to be embraced rather than simply tolerated. Women still carry a significant proportion of domestic labour and are often the “default parent” or the primary contact for an elderly parent, whether they choose to be or not. I hear so many women my age talk about how burnt out they feel from constantly carrying the mental load, which can take a real toll on their work life as well as their home life. Embracing genuine flexibility is non-negotiable if we want women to stay and progress in their careers. Moreover, we need to make sure that flexibility is available to (and actively used by) men as well as women. When male senior colleagues take a good chunk of parental leave or embrace flexible working so that they can be more present at home, it helps to set the tone that other people can do the same. My husband works part time, and we both have flexible/agile working arrangements, which means that we can split the domestic load more evenly – this has have a positive impact on both of our careers. Sponsorship also matters a lot – as much as, or perhaps more than, mentoring. Mentoring gives people guidance, whereas sponsorship gives them opportunities. Senior leaders have a responsibility to advocate for talented women when promotions, high-profile matters, and leadership roles are being discussed. That kind of visible, active support makes a tangible difference.

What skills or traits have been most critical to your success as a female leader?

Resilience is the first thing that springs to mind. Setbacks and challenges are an inevitable part of life: from not winning certain pitches to working on one of the most challenging projects of my career whilst being pregnant and working from home with a toddler during lockdown, there have certainly been some challenges! These sorts of difficulties can feel particularly acute when you’re working in a high pressure job and managing other responsibilities. The ability to learn from those experiences, and finding a way to work through them, is essential. I have found that being open about challenges, rather than projecting an image of effortless success, has strengthened my credibility rather than undermined it. We’re all human, so we need our role models to be relatable and come across as humans too.

Authenticity is closely linked to that. For a long time, I think there was an unspoken expectation in the legal profession that success required conforming to a particular style of leadership or personality type. My own experience, including coming to understand and embrace my Autism diagnosis and learning to juggle life as a working mum, has reinforced for me the value of leading in a way that is genuinely your own. People respond to authenticity, and it really helps to build trust and rapport. Empathy is a big part of my character, so being empathetic to those around me has become a key part of my leadership style as I have learned to embrace being my authentic self at work.

How do you maintain resilience and focus while working in such a demanding and high-stakes environment?

Discovering running has been my saviour! There’s something about being outdoors in the fresh air – whatever time of day and whatever the weather – that just does something to reset my brain. Sometimes I find that running helps me to work through a conundrum that I have been puzzling over all day, often subconsciously. I’ll get through the front door at the end of my run and suddenly have that “Eureka!” moment. Other times, it helps me to switch off completely and gives my nervous system a break, which has done a lot to help with anxiety over the last few years.

What legacy do you hope to leave in the law field, and how do you measure success beyond case outcomes?

Because a large amount of my work relates to the public sector, there is huge satisfaction when one of my projects gets a positive report from someone like the NAO or (in the case of Bulb) Martin Lewis. Knowing that I have contributed to projects that make a significant difference to the country’s infrastructure – be it defence, energy security, net zero projects, transport, healthcare, water supply, or anything else – makes me incredibly proud. Beyond that, seeing people go on to earn promotions or take on leading roles in new projects off the back of the success of projects that we have worked on together is a huge measure of success for me. It’s not just about the success of the projects we work on, but the people who are working on them too.

And finally, if you could go back to the start of your career, what advice would you give your younger self about navigating this profession?

Be authentically yourself! It’s a long journey – you won’t have the energy to wear a mask forever.