Tom Shaw, In-house Legal Recruitment Director spoke to Helen Lowe, Head of Ops for the General Counsel Office at easyJet on her critical role supporting the legal function at one of the world’s largest airlines. Helen shares insight into her unique skillset, the importance of her role and opportunities it presents her with, plus advice for those considering an in-house legal ops role.
"The holistic nature of my role means I always have an eye on the bigger picture. I speak the language of the business and can translate between the teams. It’s a role that needs someone who thinks differently”, Helen.
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What’s your role and what do you do?
I’m Head of Ops for the General Counsel’s Office at easyJet. I’ve been in Legal Ops for nearly ten years but am not a lawyer! My background is turnaround and change. I’m involved in making sure the team has everything they need to do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible.
We have lawyers, data protection specialists and a digital safety team within GCO. All of our team members are experts in their fields, but with a common need for broader support outside of their specialisms. I work closely with our GC, Rebecca Mills, to develop strategies, functional plans and deliver against our objectives.
It was a new role at easyJet when I joined five years ago, I’m the first to take on the role. My three pillars when I joined were budget and finance, panel and external providers (understanding what we’re outsourcing) and the third is technology (what’s out there in the marketplace and what can we leverage).
What makes an effective in-house legal function? What impact do you have for the legal team internally?
An effective in-house function knows the business, understands its risk appetite and requirements, priorities and strategic drivers. They bring something different to an external firm with that knowledge, and also through partnering with the business. Their aim is to be a trusted part of the business delivery team rather than an external contact of last resort. easyJet’s legal team really achieves this in spades, and it’s a real breath of fresh air in the profession.
For my part. I bring something different – my focus is on all the areas that aren’t law, and don’t require a specialist qualification. I’m fortunate in that I don’t always have capacity constraints through business demands and the holistic nature of my role means I always have an eye on the bigger picture. I speak the language of the business and can translate between the teams. It’s a role that needs someone who thinks differently. That’s not to say the role couldn’t be done by a lawyer, but it would need to be a lawyer who is ready to step away from the law! As with any change focussed role, Legal Ops isn’t an island – success of the role depends on the support of the team you’re delivering for.
Some people may ask, why create a specific ops role? I think creating a side of desk role doesn’t work well – projects don’t progress, and other priorities tend to creep in and overtake. Would my job be the best use of a GC’s time? They deliver real tangible value to the c suite space – should they be worried about documents, projects and spending? It makes absolute sense to put a role like mine in place.
And externally?
In terms of wider business relationships, I’m the touch point between legal and the rest of the business. I work with our internal stakeholders to sense check and implement new policies and processes, and drive initiatives forwards.
Both internally and externally this role is an ambassador for the team – I make sure their views are represented, and I gather information from the wider market, as well as sharing our successes and some of the brilliant initiatives we’ve delivered.
How have things changed in your time there, and what do you predict are the next big adjustments to the industry?
They’ve evolved. It’s not a wholesale change - I’m just as heavily involved in finance as I was in the start, but as roles mature the objectives start to shift, it’s much more now about looking ahead.
Being the first Head of legal Ops for easyJet, it was about winning hearts and minds in the beginning.
Now it’s about horizon scanning, this year it’s my job to get us on the front foot. Have things be less of a last-minute rush - focus on strategy and delivering. This year, our strategy is front and centre.
In the wider industry, I think the drive for technology has only accelerated following the development of ChatGPTs. Law firms grow by hiring more people. That luxury is not available to in-house teams, who are often cost, and headcount constrained, so I think that there will be a drive to increase efficiency and deliver without increasing costs and headcount.
How would you counsel somebody who’s first in your role? What were your early quick wins?
Play to your strengths - I bring finance experience, some bring risk or HR. Take your strength and build the quick wins from that. I start with the budget because that’s my comfort zone - in a brand-new role finding your comfort zone is important because that’s where your confidence is. Know your safe space and build out from there.
You also need GC buy in. Without positive messaging from the top, the role will struggle to land - people assume that the change you bring will bring difficulty. Have your GC drive that buy in from the outset.
If we were to take easyJet’s legal function from your first day to now - what would you say have been your big wins?
I think big wins are overrated. It’s about the small, every day, incremental wins that make the most difference. Some things have happened quickly and delivered real value, but for me, the biggest win is being trusted by the team to have their best interests at heart.
That said, we now have a clear strategy, and we are delivering against it. We’ve implemented new technologies, processes and have a roadmap for the coming years. So, lots of wins, not all of them are big, and some of them take a really really long time to become both big and a win!
What is your company’s view on AI and its potential? How have you approached it?
Our CEO is incredibly passionate about AI. To that end, we’re all tasked with working out how we’re going to embrace it, but the challenge is embracing it appropriately. GenAI has been oversold in the past, so a few people have had their fingers burnt, but the opportunities these new versions bring are endless. However, placing a GenAI sticker on whatever issue you have isn’t going to solve problems, but deployed properly it can be phenomenally powerful.
Within the team we’re looking at delivering our ideas using AI. We’re looking at our third parties and how they can partner with us to implement AI on what we’re already doing. We’re keen to be a test bed as long as we’re a safe test bed. It’s easy to both overstate and understate the risks of AI, but we should always be embracing new technology with a sense of proportion.
In your role, what are your main goals for 2025?
Be ahead of the curve. easyJet is going to exciting places, and we need to be able to match that pace.
Bring our technology roadmap to life – equipping the team to face the challenges of the future with technology that enables them to show how brilliant they are.
To continue to do a role I love at a company I love – I’m passionate about travel and the opportunities that easyJet brings to everyone to explore our world. It’s a fantastic role in a great company.
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