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

At Trainline we often say legal is not a support function; it is important to me that everyone in the team sees their role as protectors and creators of opportunity.  

While Trainline started in the UK, we now operate in different countries. Hence, our projects have involved opening markets in various jurisdictions to give the business an opportunity to operate on a level playing field in major markets; make rail travel more attractive to customers; and advocate for making greener travel choices, as train travel reduces carbon emissions by 70%. Furthermore, the legal team has actively participated in contributing to proposed legislation that changes the way the rail industry should operate. 

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years?   

A big trend everyone is talking about is AI and it will form part of in-house legal teams. It will create huge opportunities for in-house legal teams and businesses to get quicker, more efficient answers to classic legal problems.  

However, it would not replace relationships. Hence, the way legal teams and general counsel integrate themselves within the business and look for opportunities will become central to the role because a lot of the traditional legal work will get more automated and efficient. Legal teams who do not feel like business partners will need to make a change, drive strategy, and increase opportunity. 

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company? 

Trainline is a business with sustainability at its core and the legal team drives the ESG conversation by directly engaging with the financial reporting committee. We have helped create new sustainability ESG policies and try to build sustainability into the heart of what we do, and into the kind of mechanisms that we use daily. Our high sustainability and ESG credentials attract more interest from green funds and ethical investors. 

In your role, how do you balance the need to protect the organisation’s interests today while also considering legal implications and opportunities that may arise in the future? 

Legal teams must have the right governance and processes that protect the business from legal risk. As we operate across multiple jurisdictions. we have legal team members in five countries, so that we have an eyes and ears in the markets. The legal team is very much part of the onboarding process and any contracts that are signed come through legal. Furthermore, as general counsel, I am involved in all strategic conversations and represent legals interests.