Ex-Freshfields lawyer directs corporate social responsibility
We caught up with Erin Lyon, an ex-Freshfields lawyer, now a Director at CSR Asia, a social enterprise and the leading provider of Corporate Social Responsibility information in Asia. How did she get here?
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mtl: Hi Erin.
Erin: Hello.
mtl: Let’s start at the beginning – how did you get to where you are?
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Erin: I studied English literature at Exeter and was heavily involved in student politics through the NUS. I thought a professional career would give me a good grounding for whatever I eventually wanted to do. I knew that, longer-term, I wanted to do something with social implications, but I felt it would be a useful start to get a job that would teach me about the business world. After taking a number of gap years and doing some interesting travelling and working in Asia, I decided to get a professional qualification and go into the City. I got a training contract at Freshfields and spent six months in Singapore as part of that. I qualified into general corporate in London and, after one year, I decided to go back to the Freshfields office in Singapore, as I had really enjoyed it out there.
mtl: Sounds good, but all fairly standard for a high-flying City lawyer. Less than one year on and you are heading up the newly formed CSR Asia office in Singapore. How did that happen?
Erin: A little bit of networking and a lot of luck is what happened. I knew soon after arriving back at the Freshfields Singapore office that I would not want to be doing that for much longer, so I started to look at other options. I knew a bit about CSR Asia through a project I had been involved in at Freshfields and I went along to a seminar given by the directors in Hong Kong. I was the irritating one at the front asking lots of questions. I found the CSR Asia Directors to be very experienced, knowledgeable and passionate about their field, which I found really inspiring. After the seminar, we got talking and that eventually led to us agreeing that I would set up the CSR Asia office in Singapore. |
Career timeline
1998 Graduated from Exeter (English Lit.) | 1999/2000 CPE/LPC (College of Law, Guildford) | 2001 Commenced training contract at Freshfields | 2003 Qualified into general corporate at Freshfields | 2004 Freshfields (Singapore) | 2005 Joined CSR Asia
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mtl: What exactly is CSR Asia?
Erin: It’s a social enterprise, which means that, though a privately-owned company, any profit is driven back into the business to expand its staff or to carry out research and development. My co-directors, who are both academics, set it up in Hong Kong two years ago. |
"..from being a junior lawyer in a big firm, rarely leading meetings, I’m now in charge of everything I do and I’m the one giving the presentations."
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CSR Asia strives to be the leading provider of information about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Asia-Pacific region. We are involved in supporting and training companies and their managers to promote corporate social responsibility in order to advance sustainable development across Asia. Our work is wide-ranging, from employee relations to environmental issues.
mtl: And you are in charge of all this?
Erin: As far as the Singapore office is concerned, yes! I officially opened this office and I now run it with a staff of three. At this stage, I am mainly involved in business development with clients, and in providing seminars and support to existing ones. It feels like a big step up – from being a junior lawyer in a big firm, rarely leading meetings, I’m now in charge of everything I do and I’m the one giving the presentations. It’s exciting and much more rewarding. There is a pay cut, but Singapore is cheap, relatively. The work is also incredibly interesting and varied. I find it fascinating – learning about our clients’ operations and then helping them to become better corporate entities. It feels really worthwhile.
mtl: Give us an idea of your average day.
Erin: Well, it’s always busy. I work more consistently and probably longer hours than I did at Freshfields, though the hours are more manageable. And, as I am in charge, I work on my terms. I work hard when I need to but, if I have the time, I can also pop down to the gym in the middle of a Friday afternoon. |
"I work hard when I need to but, if I have the time, I can also pop down to the gym in the middle of a Friday afternoon."
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My day will involve a variety of things: providing practical advice to companies on a wide range of issues and doing presentations or training sessions on CSR. For example, I might get an e-mail from a managing director in Indonesia who wants to find out more about our seminars and consultancy services and then I might have a meeting with an NGO in Singapore (yesterday I had one with a charity which takes old computers from businesses and supplies them into the developing world). We also put together a free weekly newsletter and daily blog on CSR issues in Asia to which I contribute. I have to do all the small things too – managing the office and the staff and all the administration that comes with that. It is like running any small business – there is a lot to do.
I am also the only in-house lawyer here and my legal skills were useful from the start in drafting our shareholders agreement. I now deal with all the legal issues involved in our work.
mtl: Yes, well, we’ve put you in our Morelegaloptions section (rather than our Morethanlaw section) because of the legal side to what you do.
Erin: Yes, my legal training has really helped. I have no regrets about starting out in law. The level of service you are trained to provide at somewhere like Freshfields is invaluable.
mtl: Any advice to lawyers who like the sound of your job?
Erin: Keep your eyes open and talk to other people connected to the areas in which you are interested. Network, basically. Some of the best opportunities never reach the jobs pages – you’ve got to get out there and start talking to people.
mtl: Erin Lyon, thank you very much indeed for your time.
You can find out more about CSR Asia at www.csr-asia.com.
If you know any other lawyers who have gone and done something interesting or unusual with their lives or who have a great work/life balance then please get in touch.
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