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Both the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of John Lewis & Partners are leaving the firm as part of the recent transformation of the firm`s key legal positions. She will succeed Rebecca Law, interim executive director, who took office in June after Hannah Hullah took a sabbatical to return to general counsel, and interim secretary Simon Blackburn. Cheong Tung Sing will be an independent participant of the management team and partnership committee and “will ensure that we advance the ambitions of our partnership plan in a manner that respects the spirit and letter of our constitution and law.” It`s mid-December that I visit John Lewis, and as I wait in the lobby of the aptly named Partnership House, I notice that most of the headquarters staff are wearing Christmas shirts. When senior business lawyer Amy Holt arrives to greet me, she too is wrapped in festive knitwear, dispelling any notion of constipation in the retail chain`s commercial law team. We celebrate success, excellence and innovation in the legal profession in the UK. The importance of corporate education on legal issues goes beyond intellectual property, of course, and the small commercial legal team (consisting of only five lawyers and one intern) also provides training on contracts, competition and anti-corruption. The focus is on building relationships to foster a better understanding of the team`s work and the faces of its members. “Through the training we`re introducing, we`re very interested in making it clear that we`re approachable, commercial, and that we`re here to help,” says Amy, “while protecting the business.” On the way out, Amy draws my attention to a stuffed version of Monty the Penguin in a display case outside the legal office. I joke that the partners will join forces to buy all copies of Tom Odell`s cover of “Real Love” in order to bring the soundtrack of the commercial to the top of the charts. “Oh yes,” she said seriously, “we all will.

We have to be number one again this year. So, is the legal team as close to business as Monty and his best friend? To be sure, the partners, including the commercial legal team, seem united behind the John Lewis brand. Amy believes it`s important for the commercial legal team to keep things in-house as much as possible to better understand what the partnership does and to keep external spending low. But involvement in the company sometimes extends to doing the work with them. John Lewis has an initiative called “Helping Hands,” in which head office employees work as salespeople on the shop floor for a few days each Christmas. It`s an initiative that involves all departments, and for the legal team, it`s an invaluable opportunity to step out of the legal skin and into the client`s skin. And if a team member has experienced the daily pressures and stress a partner faces on the shop, it helps shape their legal advice, according to Amy. This then leads to a very clear practical idea of what is feasible and desirable: “While we understand that customer service really needs to be at the centre, it is not appropriate for us to impose onerous processes or requirements in store,” she says.

Similarly, workshop partners need our support – for example, when customers seek certain remedies and invoke various consumer laws such as the Sale of Goods Act, workshop partners need help understanding what legal obligations the company might have towards customers. December seems like an appropriate time of year to visit the company, as it`s associated with Christmas – thanks to its now iconic and highly anticipated annual TV commercial. This year`s offer (featuring Monty the Penguin) hits a typically heartfelt note, highlighting the obvious need for customers to purchase the “caring” brand, as well as in-house staff. As part of the commercial legal team, Amy is primarily responsible for intellectual property matters. “Brand protection is very, very important to the partnership. We need to make sure that what we do and sell is original and not counterfeit, and that our innovation is fully protected so that we can continue to offer something unique to our customers,” she says. British retail giant John Lewis has hired Clifford Chance veteran Jane Cheong Tung Sing as general counsel and general secretary. Today, the educational process helps lay colleagues understand when to raise red flags and where to go when they do. The sales legal team can then ensure they are on board at the beginning of a project – whether it`s a new design relationship, a new assortment, or branding a new area of a store – and avoid being labeled as a barrier to compliance. “I am very pleased that so many lines of business are now approaching us at the start of a new project – we can provide early risk guidance on how best to mitigate those risks and ensure the best position for the business. It`s much more collaborative,” she explains.

This collaboration means that the team can really add value, which creates a positive perception and inspires the company to seek out its members more and more. License our cutting-edge legal content to strengthen your thought leadership and brand. It`s an approach that has evolved over the past few years as Amy and her colleagues have worked to change the perception of the commercial legal team. “A few years ago,” she says, “the company considered Legal to be the last port of call to approve a project before it was launched. If there were legal problems, we were seen as a barrier, which created a negative dynamic. A Clifford Chance veteran will assume the role of general counsel and corporate secretary of British retailer John Lewis Partnership. She will lead the legal, corporate secretary, business support and privacy teams, supporting Chief of Staff Christina Slater and Head of Trust Services at the Partnership Pension Fund, Martin Mannion. Hannah Hullah resigned as general counsel just one year after taking up her official duties after the cabinet resigned during a break.

Something has to be right, because in 2014 the company celebrated its 150th anniversary. The legal department took the opportunity to deepen its relationship with the company by hosting a summer party on the store`s rooftop on Oxford Street and inviting internal partners and external consultants. “If one partner has been supported internally by me and also by one of our panel companies, it`s great to introduce them all to each other,” says Amy. “We see our designated firms as an extension of our very small commercial legal team, so this relationship has been able to extend to business. IP was therefore an important part of the commercial legal team`s efforts to integrate with the rest of the business, and maintaining an understanding of IP issues across the business was fundamental in that regard.