In her own words: Laura Davis

In every issue, we hear from a CILEX member about how they started out and their career journey. BBC lawyer and newly appointed professional board member, Laura Davis, tells her story

 

Laura Davis started her career as a legal secretary working in media law, eventually joining the BBC World Service as a legal assistant. In 2012, she decided it was time to step up and become a qualified lawyer. She began studying with CILEX and is now part of the BBC’s large legal team, working as senior counsel focused primarily on commercial global distribution and rights management.

This summer she took up a new position on CILEX’s professional board where she hopes to represent the interests of in-house members as well as those working in commercial law.

“When I left school at 17, I decided to take a legal secretarial course as I thought working in law sounded interesting. Afterwards, I got my first job as a legal secretary working at a small film production and finance company and then moved to a role at PRS, an organisation that represents songwriters, composers and publishers to ensure they are paid for their work.

After a couple of years, I joined law firm Speechly Bircham before moving back in-house, taking a job as a PA and legal assistant in the BBC World Service legal team. It was a great job but eventually I began thinking about how I might progress my career further. Working with a big team of lawyers I thought maybe this was something I should consider too.

I looked into studying for a degree and going down the LPC route but could see there would be a big financial commitment and I was aware I would also have to secure a training contract afterwards if I wanted to qualify.

I found out about CILEX and saw it could work well for me – I was already working in a legal environment so I knew I would be able to get the legal experience I needed and the course was not prohibitively expensive. I put a case forward to my manager and it was approved.

Keeping on track

In 2012, I began studying at the University of Westminster, just round the corner from the BBC offices. It was very convenient and meant I could go to lectures after work and fit in study on my commute and at lunchtimes.

As I began to learn more, I took on more legal work. The BBC team were fully behind me and I had a lot of support, with colleagues happy to explain points of law to me. After two years it became clear I needed more exposure to legal work and I went on an 18-month placement to work as a business and legal affairs executive in the radio music team.

I made studying a priority outside of work, I was conscientious and made a real effort to stay on track with my studies. The flexibility CILEX offers meant during my Level 6 when I suffered some ill health, I was able to delay one of my exams for six months which gave me space to get up to speed again when I was ready. I graduated in 2017, after four and a half years of study.

On qualification I moved back to the World Service for six months, but then moved onto BBC Global News where I began working in the commercial arm of BBC News. After several years my team was integrated into BBC Studios, the main commercial arm of the BBC, and in November last year I was promoted to senior counsel.

Global deals

My role focusses on commercial contracts, licensing and intellectual property rights management. I work predominantly on global distribution of the BBC News Channel and other BBC branded channels and programming. I also work on the commercialisation of the BBC website outside of the UK and do some production work on branded content produced by BBC StoryWorks.

There’s a real mix of legal professionals at the BBC, including many CILEX members. I’ve found the BBC really care about career development and many of my colleagues have either studied with CILEX or found a route to qualify with CILEX after completing a degree and the LPC. There are plenty of opportunities to develop within the company and I have always been treated as an equal to colleagues who qualified as solicitors and barristers.

“I’m proud to work for an organisation that is tackling fake news and misinformation to produce globally trusted journalism” 

I’m passionate about news, I think it’s incredibly important and powerful to have independent, verifiable news broadcast to the world. For me, working at the BBC means I get to work with fantastic, passionate people and I’m proud to work for an organisation that is tackling fake news and misinformation to produce globally trusted journalism.

I love the international nature of the work I do and the understanding I have gained about what strategies and what content work in different countries and markets. I am finding the commercial elements of the job far more interesting to me than I originally expected and increasingly I’m getting the opportunity to lead on large, complex deals.

I find having a global remit can be challenging at times given that different legal jurisdictions will apply to different deals and queries will come in from all over the world. There is also a need to get my head round some complicated rights structures and restrictions. I also work hard to keep up with changing technology and the different ways content is consumed and created. As the law tries to keep pace there are often new regulations to keep on top of around broadcasting, platforms and social media.

Aspiring lawyers

Part of my role is to train and mentor junior team members. I enjoy helping them with career development and am a real advocate for CILEX. I would certainly recommend it to aspiring lawyers – the flexibility and the options to study remotely or attend in-person lectures is great for students. In my experience employers are often open to funding or part-funding the qualification.

I’m thrilled to be joining the CILEX professional board. As a member working in-house in commercial law, I want to bring that experience to CILEX. I’m keen to get involved in initiatives to help members working in-house complete their work-based learning portfolios, helping make the required competencies translate better to the in-house environment.

I also think it’s important we continue to raise the profile of CILEX. We need to keep pushing to increase understanding of the CILEX route into law and the specialist skills CILEX members can bring to employers. My experience at the BBC has been that companies really appreciate the years of relevant work experience and soft skills that CILEX graduates and Chartered Legal Executives often bring, it can be a real advantage compared to those just out of university.