The Counsel Podcast is for in-house lawyers who want honest conversations and practical insights about life inside legal teams.
Host Mel Storey chats with leaders across the profession and shares tips to help you grow and thrive in-house.
Connect with Mel on Instagram @CareerBigSis or LinkedIn.
Thank you for being here!
67. Everything Is Figure Outable with Zoee Bradley
Zoee Bradley is an in-house lawyer working in one of the most heavily regulated industries there is, and she describes herself as a teacher who happens to be a lawyer. We have known each other for ten years. This conversation covers her path into in-house without the law firm pipeline, the leadership lessons she learned at her grandmother's dinner table, and what it actually takes to build a legal function that is ready for technology.
Zoee walks through the admin role that led a GC to create a position for her, the Compliance Cup she built to turn training into something people looked forward to, and how she adapts her approach when working across cultures. We also get into the hesitation many senior GCs feel about investing in legal tech, why process maps and playbooks matter more than the shiny tools, and why change management has to be carried all the way to the end.
You will leave with a clear case for building your foundations before your tech stack, and a reminder that everything is figure outable.
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Download the New to In-House Survival Guide: https://www.counselpodcast.com/store/p/newtoinhouse (use code BigSisEnergy for a special discount)
All of Mel's Big Sis Briefings can be found here: https://www.counselpodcast.com/big-sis-briefings
Connect with Mel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melstorey
Counsel Podcast Page on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/67479008/admin/feed/posts/
Instagram & TikTok: @careerbigsis
Subscribe to the Counsel Podcast so you don't miss upcoming conversations with leaders who are redefining what it means to be an in house lawyer today!
7 Oct 2026
66. Throw Everything You Know Out the Window with Emma Kadri Bergstromm
Emma Kadri Bergström is General Counsel at Legora, and she joined me from Stockholm to talk about leading a legal team inside one of the fastest growing legal tech companies in the world. We covered what in house legal looks like in hyper growth, how AI is changing the way her team works, and what all of this means for the next generation of lawyers.
Emma shares how ChatGPT launching during her parental leave set her on a deliberate path from Mannheimer Swartling to her first in house role and then to Legora, including the invented case law that taught her early lessons about the technology's limits. She explains why she no longer hires the same kind of lawyers she would have five years ago and how her team uses skills and playbooks to let the business handle low-risk work. She also talks about why she is building a legal operations function to hold the team's knowledge together.
You will come away with a clearer view of where AI belongs in legal work and why accountability matters more than ever. You will also hear why Emma thinks five year career plans are overrated even though goals are not.
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Download the New to In-House Survival Guide: https://www.counselpodcast.com/store/p/newtoinhouse (use code BigSisEnergy for a special discount)
All of Mel's Big Sis Briefings can be found here: https://www.counselpodcast.com/big-sis-briefings
Connect with Mel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melstorey
Counsel Podcast Page on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/67479008/admin/feed/posts/
Instagram & TikTok: @careerbigsis
Subscribe to the Counsel Podcast so you don't miss upcoming conversations with leaders who are redefining what it means to be an in house lawyer today!
23 Sept 2026
65. It's Not Luck: Meet the Newest Member of Counsel Media
This episode is a little different, because I am introducing you to Lily, the newest member of the Counsel Media team and the first person I have hired since turning the podcast into a business. We talk about how a daily coffee order turned into a job offer and why I deliberately looked outside the legal industry for this role.
Lily shares the decision she made to walk away from a place studying medicine in South Africa, move to Australia on her own and build a new life through long shifts and late night study. I also explain why I refuse to let her call any of it luck.
If you are a law student or junior lawyer in the hard years and not yet sure the commitment will pay off, Lily's advice at the end is for you.
~
Download the New to In-House Survival Guide: https://www.counselpodcast.com/store/p/newtoinhouse (use code BigSisEnergy for a special discount)
All of Mel's Big Sis Briefings can be found here: https://www.counselpodcast.com/big-sis-briefings
Connect with Mel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melstorey
Counsel Podcast Page on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/67479008/admin/feed/posts/
Instagram & TikTok: @careerbigsis
Subscribe to the Counsel Podcast so you don't miss upcoming conversations with leaders who are redefining what it means to be an in house lawyer today!
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