Re-wiring the Legal Career Playbook | Ep31 Alana Tart 🎙️

Feeling boxed in by the “one-track” legal career? In this episode of But is it Legal?, host Simon Marshall chats with Alana Tart, General Counsel, Executive Coach, Mindfulness Teacher and co-founder of The Mentor Well, a youth-mentoring start-up that helps young individuals to navigate their futures confidently.🎙️

🔥 What's included:

• Fractional GC decoded: Why scaling tech companies hire Alana, how she still sits at the board table, and the two myths that stop senior lawyers from making the leap.
• Designing bountiful weeks, not 14-hour days: The practical routine that lets her switch from strategy calls to school drop-offs without missing a beat.
• Coach vs. Counsel: How mindfulness and emotional-intelligence coaching turbo-charge her contract negotiations (and why “weaponised wellbeing” is a real risk).
• Mentor Well: The start-up pairing teens with well-informed mentors: safeguarding rules, data-privacy headaches, and the game-changing impact on Gen Z resilience.
• Red-flag culture: Narcissism, gas-lighting & “neck-up” thinking in law firms: what it looks like, why it festers, and the self-awareness fix HR policies can’t deliver.
• Rapid-fire truths: The stress habit she’s still kicking, the phrase she’d ban from every lawyer’s vocabulary, and who shouldn’t choose the fractional path.

🎧 Why you should listen: If you want to steal a blueprint for building a multi-strand legal career, discover why emotional intelligence, not just technical skills, will future-proof you in an AI-driven world, learn how an innovative mentoring model can safeguard youngsters mental health, and finally ditch the habit of brushing off “soft skills” as mere “pragmatism.”

👉 Subscribe now and be part of the conversation that’s changing up the UK legal sector!

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👉 Follow Alana Tart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alana-tart-771a30/ Profile: https://www.thelegaldirector.co.uk/team/alana-tart/ Mentor Well: https://www.thementorwell.com/

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👉 Follow Simon Marshall

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpaulmarshall/ Website: www.tbdmarketing.co.uk

Fresh off The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list, Laura Hughes (Browne Jacobson) talks about the future of law, government, and everything in between.

In this episode of But is it Legal?, Laura joins Simon Marshall to break down what’s really going on behind the scenes of English devolution, local government reform, and the rise of Combined County Authorities. From advising governments on landmark structural changes to opening Browne Jacobson’s Cardiff office, Laura shares sharp insights on the legal, political, and personal challenges shaping the UK’s next chapter.🎙️

🔥 What's included:

• Corporate aspirations to public impact: Hear how Laura found purpose in public law, and why it’s now one of the most politically charged and rewarding legal areas.
• The next decade of Public Law: Laura explains why public lawyers are about to be very busy, and how devolution, reorganisation, and funding gaps will collide across the UK.
• Behind the headlines: What really goes into creating a Combined County Authority? Laura breaks down the legal, political, and operational side that most never see.
• The legal side of devolution: Understand the pressure facing councils, governments, and legal teams trying to implement sweeping reforms without resources.
• Opening Cardiff: Discover what it’s like to lead a firm’s expansion into a new region, and why Browne Jacobson’s Welsh office was more than just a postcode.
• Hot 100 recognition: Laura reflects on being named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100. What it means to be recognised as a leader, and how she balances big ambition with mentorship and team culture.
• Legal heroes & real-world impact: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg still influences Laura’s leadership style, and how she brings that same focus on equality and clarity to the boardrooms of public institutions.

🎧 Why you should listen: If you want to understand where the UK’s legal and political systems are heading, and what lawyers will need to do to keep up, this episode is essential. Laura brings experience, honesty, and real insight into how big decisions get made behind closed doors.

👉 Subscribe now and be part of the conversation that’s changing up the UK legal sector!

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👉 Follow Laura Hughes

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-hughes-solicitor/ Profile: https://www.brownejacobson.com/people/laura-hughes

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👉 Follow Simon Marshall

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpaulmarshall/ Website: www.tbdmarketing.co.uk

In this episode of But is it Legal?, host Simon Marshall gets an exclusive look at how Paul Lewis (Firmwide Managing Partner, Linklaters) leads one of the legal industry’s global giants - steering strategy, redefining success, and making a difference.🎙️

🔥 What's included:

Redefining leadership: Paul breaks down what it really means to manage a global law firm, from boardroom decisions to cultural integration across 30+ offices.

The story so far: Hear how an early interest in firm management turned into a leadership career, and the lessons Paul learned from losing and winning elections along the way.

Bold moves & big decisions: Discover how Linklaters decided to exit Russia post-invasion, and what it takes to lead during global crises.

Vision 2035: Paul shares how success isn’t just about profit, it’s about winning the most complex, high-stakes legal work globally.

Ditching lockstep: Find out why Linklaters moved away from traditional partner pay structures, and how that’s reshaping the way big law competes.

Global vs local: Learn how Linklaters balances a single global strategy with regional autonomy, and why clarity of purpose beats micro-management.

What’s next for the Magic Circle?: Paul gives his take on the A&O-Shearman merger, questions the future of the “Magic Circle”.

Law meets impact: Paul discusses Linklaters’ push for social mobility and how the firm is engaging with underserved UK communities.

🎧 Why you should listen: Whether you’re a future leader, legal professional, or just curious how a global law firm operates from the inside, this episode delivers rare insight into high-level strategy, leadership under pressure, and the future of elite legal services.

👉 Subscribe now and be part of the conversation that’s changing up the UK legal sector!

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👉 Follow Paul Lewis

Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paul-lewis-aa1b4527 Profile: https://www.linklaters.com/en/find-a-lawyer/paul-lewis

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👉 Follow Simon Marshall

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpaulmarshall/ Website: www.tbdmarketing.co.uk