Sarah McColl

Q2 2025 Q&A

21 July 2025. At the time: Senior Counsel, BBC.

When did you decide to start to use LinkedIn to share posts and why?

I’ve been on LinkedIn for quite a long time, but only really started posting myself about 18 months ago.

I started posting content as I felt that there weren’t many in-house voices and that we had something a little different to say than our private-practice colleagues.

At first, I felt very self-conscious putting myself out there on a forum brimming with current and former colleagues, industry contemporaries and the great and the good of the fields of law and media.

However, the positive reception that I saw others receive on the platform made me ask ‘what’s to lose?’.

So far, the experience has been wholly positive.

Why do you think your posts encourage your followers to comment and engage?

Over the last 18 months, I have discovered that people are really interested in what in-house lawyers actually do.

Traditionally, it’s an area that’s not as well publicised or understood as work in private practice.

This does have the upside of making us seem a bit mysterious and cool, but I think that in-house lawyers are also often underestimated by the rest of the legal world, who mistakenly think we just took the job for shorter hours (that is rarely the case!)

When I was looking for jobs, I’m not sure there were any in-house teams actively recruiting, so private practice seemed like the only route.

I think the fact that I have tried to shine a light on the work of in-house lawyers and on routes into careers in-house has struck a chord both with people considering a move and with students and graduates.

How do you keep thinking of new things to share about?

For me, inspiration comes in fits and starts and is often triggered by conversations in the workplace or conversations with contacts via LinkedIn.

I try to post reasonably regularly, but I don’t worry if I have nothing to say for a week or two.

Often, I’ll have a flurry of ideas in quick succession, so I keep a little log of ideas for future posts and try to spread them out, and only post them when I find the time to fully work through an idea.

Having a longish commute into London provides some useful drafting time.

(I’m also now a big fan of drafting and then scheduling posts.)

Have you had any breakthrough results through using the platform?

I’ve made contact with loads of amazing people via the platform.

One of my personal bugbears and regular post topics has been on the use of “Dear Sirs” in legal correspondence, and I now have a posse of people who share my frustration and we are working together now to try to effect industry-wide change on that front.

I’ve been asked to speak at conferences – I suspect this is because people know more about me and what I do via LinkedIn.

I’ve also had at least one conversation a fortnight with students and graduates who want to find out more about working in-house and about media law.

Those conversations help me remember how lucky I am to do what I do and also, I hope, encourage some amazingly bright young future lawyers into my field.

What would you say to GCs that are hesitant about getting going on LinkedIn?

Just give it a go.

Writing long posts might not be for everyone, but it’s a lot less scary than introducing yourself at a networking event, and sometimes a lot more effective.

It also allows your real-world contacts to get to know you a bit better.

Finally, talking about your job and career path is likely to be hugely valuable to people starting out in their careers, so if nothing else think about doing it for them.

Do you get involved in training others on how to use the platform?

No, I still consider myself to be a happy novice!

(But I do point people in the direction of those who do have solid advice on the subject.)

Who should we keep an eye out for in future?

All of our BBC trainees of course!

(See my recent series of interviews with the 2024 intake).

Which creators would other legal sector professionals be wise to follow?

I really love Tami Irokawa McGonigal’s posts, which bring a touch of Japanese philosophy to coaching and career advice.

For legal content, Doughty Street Chambers and many of their barristers post some brilliant updates about the human rights and media law cases they are involved in.

Check out Caoilfhoinn Gallagher KC in particular and the amazing work she is doing for journalists’ safety and press freedom internationally.

And of course Helen Burness and Simon Marshall’s posts have been invaluable in terms of advice on how to use LinkedIn effectively.