Travel metasearch engine Skyscanner’s credentials as one of the UK’s most successful tech start-ups were underscored in November 2016 when it was acquired by Chinese online travel company Ctrip for £1.4bn. However, the company continues to operate autonomously and is still very much a part of Scotland’s vibrant tech scene. Under the guidance of chief legal officer Carolyn Jameson, the company has also become something of a testing ground for new ways of handling legal work. Almost all matters are dealt with internally by a team of eight lawyers. Corporate and M&A work is largely handled by Graeme Barron, director of legal and corporate development, and Martin Nolan, formerly GC of Edinburgh-based cyber security start-up Payfont, who joined the team in mid-2017. Intellectual property expertise is provided by Anoop Joshi, Andrew Farquhar and Singaporebased Robert Irvine, who is jointly responsible, along with Dabo Zhang, for covering the company’s operations in China. The Skyscanner team helps support parent-company Ctrip on matters outside China and will shortly recruit an Edinburgh-based lawyer dedicated to this role. Jameson has also looked to bring less traditional skills into the team. Joshi, who joined the team last year from Brodies, had previously worked as a software developer at CodeBase, the UK’s largest technology incubator, and as head of product and partnerships at cashflow forecasting app Float. ‘Finding a lawyer with that background is a godsend,’ says Jameson. ‘Matching those skills with commercial nous really sets [Joshi] apart.’ Further coding experience comes from Craig McIntyre, who completed his training contract with Skyscanner a year ago. ‘The business loves [McIntyre],’ adds Jameson. ‘He brings youth and enthusiasm to the projects he works on and is always asking how things can be done differently. It has been a very good advert for training lawyers in-house.’ The team has since taken on its second trainee, Flaviana Preston, whom Jameson describes as ‘a very bright, high-quality candidate, who is already developing into an excellent in-house lawyer’. While each member of the team brings a specific technical skill to the business, all are expected to inform Skyscanner’s wider commercial strategy. ‘This is not a back-seat support function’, says Jameson. ‘A lot of the work we do, especially on the M&A side of things, is helping the business find opportunities and identify targets. The lawyers are often asked to help figure out what we need as a business and how various acquisitions might take us toward that goal. It’s an unusual structure, but the business is aware that we have some outstanding talents in this team.’