From the Inside Out: Meet our former in-house counsel, Becky White 

Many of our solicitors have walked in our clients’ shoes, having served as legal counsel in fast-paced, resource-stretched businesses. They understand the pressures and practical realities of in-house life because they’ve lived them.

Our interview series, From the Inside Out, explores the experiences of Harper James lawyers who’ve moved from in-house roles to private practice, offering a behind-the-scenes look at life inside a business and how it shapes the support they now provide to GCs and in-house teams.

We recently spoke with Becky White, Senior Solicitor in our Data Protection team. With 23 years’ PQE and extensive in-house experience across engineering, oil and gas, and energy, Becky brings deep practical insight to her work at Harper James. 

Tell us about your experience as an in-house lawyer: what kinds of businesses were you in, and what was your role? 

‘I chose to move in-house fairly early on in my career,’ says Becky. ‘I felt it would offer me a better work-life balance than working in private practice in the City at the time. My first in-house role was with the Department of Trade and Industry, working within Government. From there, I moved into the private sector, joining the legal team at WS Atkins (now known simply as Atkins), a blue-chip engineering consultancy. After that, I took on a role at Chevron, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. 

‘Working across a variety of organisations over the years gave me a real opportunity to get under the bonnet of industries I wouldn’t have been exposed to in private practice. That experience has been incredibly valuable now that I’m working at Harper James, it’s given me a level of commercial insight that not every lawyer has, and that clients really appreciate.’ 

What’s one thing you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your in-house career? 

‘Understanding how the business works is key,’ Becky explains. ‘You can’t answer legal questions in a vacuum, especially when you're working in-house. To be truly effective, you need to combine legal expertise with a solid grasp of the commercial landscape the business operates in. This means taking the time to learn how the business runs day-to-day, what its commercial objectives are, and the challenges it faces in its specific sector. 

‘Senior leaders at the top of the business aren’t always looking for a textbook legal answer. What they really want is practical and commercially relevant advice that helps them make confident, well-informed decisions and guidance that supports their goals while managing legal risk. Being able to deliver both is what makes an in-house lawyer truly valuable.’ 

How might having Harper James’ Extend Plan have helped during a high-pressure moment or major project from your in-house days? 

‘No matter the size of the organisation, managing legal spend is always a key concern when you're bringing in external support. A subscription like the Extend plan would have made a major difference by giving us clearer control over legal spend and avoiding nasty surprises at the end of each billing period. 

Becky adds, ‘When you're in-house, you often have to justify every time you go outside the internal team for legal support. Having greater control over that spend would have been incredibly helpful. The Extend plan would have also made it much easier to access timely, well-informed advice from someone who understands the business, saving both time and stress.’ 

Can you recall any incidents that highlighted the value of proactive risk management or early outside support? 

‘I remember when GDPR first came in, and the business I was working for at the time was quite cautious about whether it was something they really needed to pay attention to. It was particularly challenging getting the sales team to engage with it because they didn’t immediately see its relevance or importance. 

Becky explains, ‘Looking back, bringing in external legal advisors to deliver targeted training could have helped reinforce the message and made it easier to get buy-in across the business. When you're the only legal voice, it can be difficult at times to convince teams to make significant changes in response to legislation they haven’t seen the impact of yet. Having that external support can help, it backs you up, adds authority to what you're saying, and sometimes that outside perspective is what’s needed to get people to take it seriously.’ 

What single piece of advice would you give to a new or sole in-house lawyer feeling overwhelmed by broad responsibilities? 

‘You don’t need to know everything,’ says Becky. ‘But in-house lawyers can sometimes feel like they should. Often, once a business brings in its first lawyer, the expectation quickly becomes, ‘Great, anything legal that comes through, they can handle.’ Whether it’s reviewing a lease in New York or disputing parking fines, there’s a tendency for anything remotely legal to land on your desk. 

‘But that’s not realistic, no one can be an expert in every area of law. What’s important is being clear about where you add the most value. That might be negotiating contracts, supporting the HR team with employment matters or managing intellectual property – whatever your strengths are, make sure you lean into them and show up in those areas. 

‘It also means being confident enough to say when something falls outside your expertise. Part of the role is helping stakeholders understand that you're there to provide strategic legal input, not to cover every issue single-handedly. Some teams will get that straight away, others may need a bit of guidance, but knowing where you fit and how you contribute to the wider business is key.’