Helen Lowe

EasyjetHead of Legal Operations

Simplify, streamline and self-serve. Those are the Three Ss that Helen Lowe lives her life by and at EasyJet, they are yielding tremendously positive results. In the last two years, the travel sector has been hit incredibly badly. Political uncertainty and mixed messaging have not helped, but Lowe and her team have striven to make a success of the business’s legal function.

2021 began with really bedding in the airline’s revamped legal panel. Nine firms won places with a variety of skillsets represented, ranging from the magic circle heft of Clifford Chance to the corporatised model at Knights. The emphasis of the “legal community” that EasyJet has created, Lowe feels, has been an unmitigated success and embedding that within her panel firms is central to everything she does.

Working in tandem with programmes such as the O-Shaped Lawyer has helped drill that collaborative spirit into the panel. Lowe has asked her panel firms to take part in everything from speed-dating exercises to tone-of-voice training to help foster the kind of culture she and EasyJet want from trusted advisers.

The next session will take place at Clifford Chance’s Canary Wharf offices in March. No doubt Lowe will spring a surprise on her firms about what more they can do to help the business.