At the helm of Genus plc’s legal and compliance strategy, Lucie Grant is leading one of the most progressive in-house teams in agricultural biotechnology. As General Counsel, she oversees a global function at the cutting edge of innovation — where law meets science, and where legal leadership helps drive sustainable impact.
In the lastest of our In-house Legal Journeys blogs, Lucie shares her journey from the arts classroom to the boardroom, reflects on the evolution of in-house lawyering in a digitalised era, and gives a glimpse into Genus’s growing legal function as it helps shape the future of sustainable food production.
If the business sounds interesting to you and you are based in the North West or the West Midlands with good access to the M6, then use the link the article to review the opportunity and let’s continue the conversation regarding the newly created Legal Counsel role within Lucie’s team – which is a hybrid, Cheshire-based position.
How did you first get into law?
Through a sheer lack of curiosity. I was relatively bright and did three “arts subject” A-levels and our school careers service was very traditional. Law seemed like a natural fit for my then limited skill set, but in all fairness, I had zero clue at the age of 17 as to what actually being a lawyer entailed.
What attracted you to join Genus, and what’s great about working there?
I’ve made a career of working in multiple different sectors with the golden thread of national infrastructure running through my choices. I worked in pretty much every industry a nation needs to sustain itself: utilities, defence, life sciences, infrastructure engineering and now, Genus, an agricultural biotech. Our mission is to sustainably nourish the world. I joined this business at the most exciting of times; we’ve recently been given FDA approval for our gene editing technology for use in pigs to make them resistant to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). This landmark approval provides a significant step forward in managing the costly and devastating effects of PRRS and allows the reduction of antibiotic use. Contextually, PRRS costs industry approximately £1.75 billion in lost revenues in the US and Europe alone, before one even takes account of the suffering caused to animals. Genus works at the cutting edge of biotechnology and the passion, skill and capabilities of our global teams is just amazing and I feel privileged to be part of Genus and its journey.
Why is now a great time to join the Genus Legal Function?
ABS, along with its sister business, PIC, now has a dedicated legal function under the leadership of Assistant General Counsel, Sonia Teas, who is part of the ABS Leadership Team. Sonia is a super bright, highly capable lawyer who knows the ABS business inside and out. She is not only a great lawyer but a super coach and mentor, as well as being highly creative; I love working with her.
The Global Legal Function is growing and developing; we’re hiring lawyers for both businesses and establishing a dedicated Group Compliance Function as well as strengthening our Corporate Secretariat. It is an excellent time and opportunity to be part of shaping the Legal Function of Genus for the future, as we build our team, our infrastructure and our processes to really use the law to generate competitive advantage whilst mitigating our risk profile.
What makes your new Legal Counsel role particularly attractive?
Quite apart from the varied workload, the chance to operate across EMEA in a business which is doing very well – Genus’s share price is doing very well indeed – it is the opportunity to join a team which is growing and evolving. We recently got together as a function and thought about our own functional values: what is important to us, how do we want to work together as a team? We have come up with the following values statement:
“Within the Genus legal function, we are committed to a workplace culture defined by respect, trust, and continuous growth. We communicate openly, promptly and responsibly, collaborate across teams, and foster an environment where it’s safe to learn, make mistakes, and evolve together. Conflicts are met with empathy, and solutions are built through trust in each other. By collaborating together and leveraging each other’s strengths, we achieve the best outcomes, and with a no-blame culture we empower one another to bring our best selves to work.”
I feel very proud and fortunate to be working in a function with people who share these values.
Who has been most influential in your career on the path to becoming GC?
I am fortunate to have grown up surrounded by brave, bold, clever women from my father’s mother who escaped Nazi Germany to my mother’s mother who having been forced to leave school at 14 to start work, went to University at the age of 72. They taught me that obstacles are there to be vaulted and that it’s never too late to learn.
I have also benefitted from great mentors and role models. I have been fortunate to work with genuine leaders and true trailblazers, such as Claire Wallace, President of Research and Safety Division Europe at Thermo Fisher and I shall never forget that Peter Hadju, former CEO of Duraline and Sheldon Hirt, SVP and Global GC of Orbia gave me my first GC role and allowed me to build the legal function I had always wanted to be part of.
What advice would you give to aspiring lawyers?
Understand your motivations and your skill sets.
There is no getting away from the fact that any job in the legal profession is hard work; I have all the respect for those of our colleagues working in the criminal and family sector who really are up against some of the hardest of times given government reforms. It is a satisfying and mostly intellectually stimulating job, but think hard about what the industries of the future might look like and how that will affect our profession – what skills will you need for a digitalised legal profession which actively uses AI and machine learning to do many tasks lawyers still do today. What can you specialise in that cannot be automated or indeed, in an area in which you are the future expert, and where can you add individual value to your prospective clients?
What was your first non-legal job?
I had a variety of shop jobs, restaurant jobs and bar jobs. I’ve worked on makeup counters, served pizza and pulled pints, served cocktails and done the full gamut of kitchen jobs. I spent a decent period of time managing a restaurant in Australia when I was young which is still the hardest I have ever worked. All of these jobs gave me confidence to chat and interact with anyone, gave me the “elevator pitch” skills and helped me understand what the customer wants, which is critical to in house lawyering.
What unexpected wisdom guides your approach to life and work?
The most important things in life happen behind our own front doors. We work exceptionally hard and spend a seemingly limitless amount of time at work, but at the end of the day, my people – my daughter and my family – won’t remember how good a lawyer I was or how committed a leader I have been; they’ll remember the time I spent with them, the memories we built together and how I treated other people. Appropriately prioritising what matters gives you the freedom to be your best self in and out of work.
I also always quote Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can” – I can’t think of a more apt description of the work of an in-house lawyer.
What’s the best investment you’ve ever made in yourself?
Making time to exercise. I exercise early every morning going to the gym and then walking outside and the investment in my overall health, levels of fitness and giving myself time every morning to process, focus only on me and turn off the noise is invaluable.
