Kate Anthony Wilkinson received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Luxury Law Awards, part of Luxury Law Summit London, which took place on 9 June. Most recently, she served as group general counsel and company secretary for British lifestyle brand Mulberry Group. She is an experienced corporate and commercial in-house legal executive and solicitor with specialities in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial work, intellectual property and anti-counterfeit management, among other areas.
After beginning her legal career at Osborne Clarke, Wilkinson held a variety of in-house roles at organisations including Lawson Mardon Packaging, Alcan, Rio Tinto Alcan and Amcor.
She spoke with the Global Legal Post about receiving the award, key legal issues in her career, advice for young lawyers and the non-legal paths she might have taken.
You’ve had a long and wonderful career in the law and recently received our Lifetime Achievement award. Thinking about your career and this award, what reflections would you like to share with us?
I have been a lawyer for a long time and much has changed for lawyers over those years. Some things we can’t imagine being without include computers – no more writing by hand, dictating lengthy tapes for the typing pool and only being allowed one draft – and mobile phones. But others perhaps are not so helpful, such as a much faster pace with emails flooding our inboxes coupled with the expectation of an immediate response and less thinking time for complex matters as demands are 24/7.
As lawyers, we have to embrace change in business, in the profession and in the demands made on us by others. Still, we should always remember that as lawyers we are in a privileged position of being a trusted partner, a confidante and a holder of much information and knowledge. We need to ensure we always act professionally, with integrity and with respect for the people with whom we interact.
In some ways, being a GC is like being a sports team manager: lots of training, hard work and preparation up front for a project, focused attention combined with a desire to achieve the best outcome whilst continually watching the field for opportunities and being agile to make changes, but whatever the result, you thank the team and shake hands with the opposition at the end.
What I have learnt over the years on a personal front is to take opportunities when they arise, be that in terms of type of work undertaken – I was going to be a litigator, but an opportunity came up to do corporate finance work with which I fell in love; career path – an unexpected opportunity led to me leaving private practice and heading in house, never to look back; places to work – taking opportunities have enabled me to work around the world; a difficult project or experience – it might be frightening but the feeling of success at the end is exhilarating; and people to work with and learn from – watch, ask and learn something new every day. It is taking opportunities which keep life exciting and every day different.
When you think of the issues you’ve handled throughout the years, which have been the most important to you?
As a transactional lawyer, I love the buzz of a deal – the planning, negotiation, bringing all moving parts together to completion. Ensuring a deal is executed effectively and completed properly has always been important to me. In my various roles I have completed many deals which I fondly remember, sometimes because they were so complex and difficult, like establishing a printing factory in St Petersberg; or needed to circumnavigate local political expectations such as negotiating with the KGB in Kazakhstan; or carried cultural sensitivities for a luxury joint venture in Japan; or had the opportunity for local impact when creating a £1m community trust in Scotland; or were fast-paced like an Australian distributor buy-back; or due to pure enjoyment such as buying a chocolate factory in Germany with platters of amazing chocolates every day.
Every deal presents challenges and the ability to manage those challenges, conflicts and difficulties sensibly and calmly is paramount, as well as learning from them to be ready for the next deal.
Although deals are exciting, can be all-consuming and provide the adrenaline rush, the day-to-day work and compliance and governance work are all important. If the compliance filing is not done on time, or the insurance cover renewal is delayed, or the invoice approvals are pushed to one side, or the bank reporting is not done, the consequences could be considerable. So it is important to remember to always properly finish a project and ensure that time-critical matters are not forgotten.
As a GC, there are always issues to address, but maintaining good relations with people, recognising that everyone in a business plays a role and contributes to the whole, helping people and explaining so that they can understand, and treating people with respect, will mean that others will help you and make working more enjoyable. It can also ease potential conflict, earn respect and trust, and enable the lawyer to be a key part of the team.
How do you define success as a lawyer?
This is a difficult question as lawyers need many skills to be successful and success will vary depending on role.
Amongst the most important skills are the desire to be inquisitive and want to learn, be that a new aspect of law, development of management skills or embracing AI. But to be successful as an in-house lawyer, you need to understand your business, be able to distil complex concepts or provisions into more manageable language and apply your knowledge and learning to the commercial field or relevant scenario. Otherwise, there is a danger of overcomplicating the matter or missing the crux of a matter and losing the support, understanding or attention of non-lawyers.
What advice would you give to a young lawyer starting their career today?
The world is changing, and new areas of law will emerge. I would advise a young lawyer to be open about where their career may take them, to develop a broad knowledge base, to engage with people, and to keep as many doors open as possible.
Like me, they may start by wanting to be the noble defender of the little man against the state but find that the intellectual challenge of another area of law is more appealing. We are back to taking opportunities and embracing change.
If you hadn’t pursued law, what field would you be in?
As a teenager, I was torn between law, medicine and theatre. I still have a strong fascination with medical matters, but the creative side of me is still there and had I not been a lawyer, I would like to have been in set design and build for theatre. I am a trustee of Bristol Old Vic Theatre, so I get my theatrical fix there.
Luxury Law Summit New York, which is hosted by The Global Legal Post, takes place at The Metropolitan Club on 10 November. Click here to read the programme and here to book a delegate place. For sponsorship enquiries, email [email protected].
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
