As part of our Women in Tech Series, today we speak to Alice Paley, Head of Legal and find out her thoughts on the the legal tech industry and a little more about her role here with us at ThoughtRiver.
Tell us a little bit about you and your background
Well I took a fairly traditional route into law: law degree, time spent studying and working in Germany and Brussels, LPC and then a training contract with a global law firm where I learnt the corporate law ropes for a few years. I specialised as a mid level lawyer moving to a boutique firm to focus on venture capital investment back in 2014.
Fast forward a good few years and with a growing young family, I had itchy feet again. I was looking for my next challenge when the opportunity to become the first Head of Legal at ThoughtRiver came up.
I’d been in private practice for a long time and knew that any jump I’d make away from a traditional law firm would and should be to somewhere that’s going places. Legaltech seemed like a good place to land and I haven’t looked back having joined ThoughtRiver right at the beginning of the pandemic – hello permanent home-working, home schooling and loads of video calls!
What's life like at ThoughtRiver?
Well its true that the guys here are busy working their socks off here too, but I’m lucky to be surrounded by some really talented women who demonstrate every day that tech is a place for women to own and grow a fantastic career. Whilst my role is not strictly tech-based I love the dual aspect of my role: one part in house counsel owning the legal risk for the ThoughtRiver business and one part product tester.
And a typical day?....
A typical day for me will involve reviewing and drafting commercial contracts using the ThoughtRiver platform, equity management, IP strategy, data protection management, reviewing and updating policies, meetings with key stakeholders in the business: Sales, Product, Content, Marketing, Operations together with testing our product and feeding back to the business. No two days are the same and I love the variety my role brings.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
Not many people know that I can trace my family tree back to the 16th century and I am related to the Sheriffs of Nottingham of that time.
