GC Spotlight: Tom Brown discusses how process optimisation is essential in demonstrating the value of legal teams.

Featured in our GC Spotlight Series this month is Tom Brown who is SVP, Deputy General Counsel leading the Worldpay Global Products Legal team based in London.  Tom joined Worldpay in September 2019 and previously was the Head of the UK and Ireland and European Product Legal team at PayPal for 9 years. His Worldpay Legal team won In-House Financial and Banking Team of the Year at the 2022 Lawyer Awards.  He previously worked for law firms Addleshaw Goddard and Pinsent Masons focusing on financial technology and payments law and worked in-house for card processor Total System Services and consulting firm Accenture.   Tom is dual New York and English qualified and originally from South Carolina.

1. Hi Tom, can you tell us a little about your role and journey into law? What excites you outside of work? 

I am incredibly fortunate as I work in a world class organisation and with a talented, supportive, and fun team. I am currently the Head of the Product Legal Team at Worldpay (a global payments and acquiring company) and my team is responsible for helping the business to launch all technology and financial service products (including products provided with our partners). Our work involves reviewing the new products or product changes from “soup to nuts“, as the saying goes, from product ideation through to launch of the product, and being deeply embedded as part of the business team. No great feat is ever accomplished without enthusiasm, and I love helping the team to launch excellent products to market in a quick and efficient manner. The work involves helping design the product, getting any legal/regulatory approvals, contracting with partners through to drawing terms and conditions, reviewing the customer website and final launch.

My journey into law was a very unconventional path. I studied Business Finance and Ancient History at St Andrews University and then did an MBA in Finance at Stirling University (where I met my wife) and I loved the area of business/commercial law. I made the decision to pursue a US law degree and went back to the US and South Carolina Law School (got married) and while in law school I was lucky to get a clerkship in a mortgage bank legal team which showed me that I loved working in financial services and in-house. After graduating, I took a job in London with Accenture, took the New York Bar, and requalified as an English solicitor taking the QLTT (as it was called). I have worked 20 years in-house, mostly for fintech companies like PayPal, Worldpay and TSYS with a 6-year stint in private practice. To me, a career in law is extremely interesting, rewarding and gives you the opportunity to make a huge difference to your business and in the community and to help others. It is the best job in the world. Outside of work, I love spending time with my family , walking my two dachshunds, running, rowing, reading history, and being outdoors. I am also a travel addict and huge fan of US and UK sport. I grew up on a horse farm in South Carolina so love riding horses.

2. As a GC, what are some of the challenges that keep you up at night? How are you addressing them? 

The challenges that keep me up at night are ensuring we achieve the strategic goals of the business proactively and at pace, with a small budget, and look after the well-being and work life balance of my Legal team. The Legal team is the conscience of the business and needs to be proactively involved with helping the other functions to bring innovative products to market compliantly and quickly. This is a challenge with increased regulation in the Fintech industry.

I address these issues by ensuring that the legal team is involved early in the product development life cycle as giving legal advice early saves time and prevents having to rework a product. Also, by streamlining and automating processes where we can, by having one approval forum for products with all functions involved and putting in place robust legal and compliance frameworks in all functions to manage the risk and allow flexibility to advise on changes to a product. From a team management perspective, it is important to ensure that legal team members get credit for their ideas, that they feel recognised for their work and achievements and that the team feels a sense of purpose and connection to the strategy and goals of the company. A common sense of purpose and treating the team as valued human beings and friends is a powerful tool for staff satisfaction, retention, and motivation.

3. What do you think about the use of LegalTech, data analytics and process optimisation to improve your legal department's value? 

I think that process optimisation is essential to improve and demonstrate a legal team’s value and ensure the legal team focus is on value added projects and to take business as usual processes out of the legal team, to the extent possible, such as NDAs. Data analytics are key to showing the extent of a legal team’s work as well as helping to manage workflow. The commercial contract process, legal review and other processes should all be easily understood and automated as much as possible. Legal teams can help to save and make the company money not just be a cost center, by ensuring they are proactive in managing work and looking for opportunities to work effectively.

4. What trends do you expect to see in the legal services industry in the next 5 years? 

I see an increased use of artificial intelligence to complete routine legal tasks and in contract drafting, but my view is not to the extent predicted or in the way predicted. AI is powerful but needs to be applied in the correct way to create value for the business. I think lawyers will need to be at the cutting edge of technology and have more business acumen as AI starts to perform more of the basic drafting and BAU tasks. I also think that law firms will increasingly become more integrated service providers offering legal services as well as compliance and other software solutions at a greater scale than today.

5. Your favourite tune? And why? 

Read my Mind by the Killers. I love the lyrics. 😊