Team size: 8

Key team members: Rachel Poyntz-Baker, Carolyn Harman, Grace Lim, Amy Stuckey

What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We work closely with the original co-founders of Lush and handle all legal matters across the Lush and Cosmetic Warriors group, from drafting contracts to multi-jurisdictional litigation in most areas of law. We have our fingers on the pulse with the strategic and inspiring direction of the business, to ensure we continue to keep the values and ethics that underpin the Lush brand beating at the heart of everything we do, and this includes litigation.

During Covid-19 we simultaneously ran eight multi-jurisdictional complex litigation matters (including interim hearings) that were intrinsically linked (UK, US, Canada). This meant that the entire process was conducted virtually. To provide some context, this was the biggest merger and acquisition that Lush had ever procured. The North America market brought in 50% of the profit to Lush Ltd and we had the end of a 20-year relationship to navigate, whilst dealing with uncertain times in a retail industry during the pandemic, with the clear goal to preserve the NA businesses for both the employees and consumers.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

The Lush Legal team supports the entire Lush group and Cosmetic Warriors group. In 2021, Lush generated a group turnover of £408 million. As a support function to the global business, our small (but perfectly formed) team provides legal support and advice across

our retail, manufacturing, digital and centralised teams globally across 52 countries. We have supported the expansion and development of Lush as a brand at a licence and shareholder level and more recently expanding into the raw material supply chains in high-risk jurisdictions.

Covid-19 affected all organisations in some way, with Lush as no exception. Amongst the adversity emerged the need to adapt to meet the changing environment and allow the business to not only steady itself but prosper. This saw a shift in working practices with additional demands, which have been met with excitement and vigour. Embracing new technologies, developing new working practices, and supporting change have enabled us to thrive and continue to provide a dependable, innovative in-house legal team, undeterred by any challenges presented.

Diversification of in-house legal teams and associated skills continues to rapidly expand, along with the support required to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the delivery of Legal services. At Lush, we have organically adapted our Legal function in such a way to advance our capability in all areas of Legal operations.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in- house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

The advancement of technology brings a continued rise in expectations of service levels, across almost all areas of our lives and professions. We cannot predict the digital state in ten years nor anticipate the pace of change. The emphasis therefore becomes one of the things we can control, that is our adaptability and response to change.

The pattern of growth in technology and artificial intelligence already presents us with a plethora of options to enable us to work in new ways. The ability to work remotely and collaboratively can now be done with simplicity and ease. This requires additional skills in new areas of tech we perhaps never anticipated during our experience and studies within the Legal field.

The impetus therefore becomes how we build, manage, and maintain relationships across the entire organisation. Communication skills become ever more valuable as we learn not only new tools and methods, but how we drive negotiations and agreements in a way that brings success. Bringing people together, as is always a key skill in any legal discussions, brings fresh challenges in the digital arena.