Building a Generation of Financially Savvy Lawyers | Ep 32 Carla Hoppe 🎙️

Lawyers can recite law in their sleep, yet many admit they’ve never learned the basics of financial management. In this episode of But is it Legal?, host Simon Marshall welcomes Carla Hoppe, the founder of Wealthbrite, for a straight-talk conversation on money mis-education in the UK. Carla reveals how Wealthbrite equips lawyers, from trainees to partners, with the practical tools to save, invest, and build real wealth.🎙️

🔥 What's included:

• Money & mental health - “Money is still the number one cause of stress and anxiety in working adults in the UK,” yet the profession “still doesn’t talk about it enough.”
• Why lawyers stay silent - Fear of judgment, salary secrecy, and keeping personal finances off-limits at work.
• When private pressure turns into firm-level risk - Falsified expenses, padded timesheets, and chasing bonuses.
• The u-curve of financial stress - Survey data shows that peak stress is felt at the start of people’s careers, eases, then climbs again at 10 years plus PQE.
• Misinformation minefield - Viral social media videos which provide advice that can lead to fraud without a single disclaimer.
• Next-gen fixes - A new “Keep the Change” community where partners, senior associates and juniors answer questions anonymously, and why 15-year-olds talk about it more openly… they don’t have any shame.

🎧 Why you should listen: If you want to see how money stress is quietly reshaping the UK legal profession, and how to protect yourself and your firm, this episode is a must. Carla offers clear, practical insight on what needs to change, financial risks, and building a safer, smarter money culture through her Wealthbrite community.

👉 Subscribe now and be part of the conversation that’s changing up the UK legal sector!

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👉 Follow Carla Hoppe

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlahoppe/ Wealthbrite: https://www.wealthbrite.co.uk/

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👉 Follow Simon Marshall

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpaulmarshall/ Website: www.tbdmarketing.co.uk

Re-wiring the Legal Career Playbook | Ep31 Alana Tart 🎙️

Feeling boxed in by the “one-track” legal career? In this episode of But is it Legal?, host Simon Marshall chats with Alana Tart, General Counsel, Executive Coach, Mindfulness Teacher and co-founder of The Mentor Well, a youth-mentoring start-up that helps young individuals to navigate their futures confidently.🎙️

🔥 What's included:

• Fractional GC decoded: Why scaling tech companies hire Alana, how she still sits at the board table, and the two myths that stop senior lawyers from making the leap.
• Designing bountiful weeks, not 14-hour days: The practical routine that lets her switch from strategy calls to school drop-offs without missing a beat.
• Coach vs. Counsel: How mindfulness and emotional-intelligence coaching turbo-charge her contract negotiations (and why “weaponised wellbeing” is a real risk).
• Mentor Well: The start-up pairing teens with well-informed mentors: safeguarding rules, data-privacy headaches, and the game-changing impact on Gen Z resilience.
• Red-flag culture: Narcissism, gas-lighting & “neck-up” thinking in law firms: what it looks like, why it festers, and the self-awareness fix HR policies can’t deliver.
• Rapid-fire truths: The stress habit she’s still kicking, the phrase she’d ban from every lawyer’s vocabulary, and who shouldn’t choose the fractional path.

🎧 Why you should listen: If you want to steal a blueprint for building a multi-strand legal career, discover why emotional intelligence, not just technical skills, will future-proof you in an AI-driven world, learn how an innovative mentoring model can safeguard youngsters mental health, and finally ditch the habit of brushing off “soft skills” as mere “pragmatism.”

👉 Subscribe now and be part of the conversation that’s changing up the UK legal sector!

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👉 Follow Alana Tart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alana-tart-771a30/ Profile: https://www.thelegaldirector.co.uk/team/alana-tart/ Mentor Well: https://www.thementorwell.com/

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👉 Follow Simon Marshall

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpaulmarshall/ Website: www.tbdmarketing.co.uk

Fresh off The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list, Laura Hughes (Browne Jacobson) talks about the future of law, government, and everything in between.

In this episode of But is it Legal?, Laura joins Simon Marshall to break down what’s really going on behind the scenes of English devolution, local government reform, and the rise of Combined County Authorities. From advising governments on landmark structural changes to opening Browne Jacobson’s Cardiff office, Laura shares sharp insights on the legal, political, and personal challenges shaping the UK’s next chapter.🎙️

🔥 What's included:

• Corporate aspirations to public impact: Hear how Laura found purpose in public law, and why it’s now one of the most politically charged and rewarding legal areas.
• The next decade of Public Law: Laura explains why public lawyers are about to be very busy, and how devolution, reorganisation, and funding gaps will collide across the UK.
• Behind the headlines: What really goes into creating a Combined County Authority? Laura breaks down the legal, political, and operational side that most never see.
• The legal side of devolution: Understand the pressure facing councils, governments, and legal teams trying to implement sweeping reforms without resources.
• Opening Cardiff: Discover what it’s like to lead a firm’s expansion into a new region, and why Browne Jacobson’s Welsh office was more than just a postcode.
• Hot 100 recognition: Laura reflects on being named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100. What it means to be recognised as a leader, and how she balances big ambition with mentorship and team culture.
• Legal heroes & real-world impact: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg still influences Laura’s leadership style, and how she brings that same focus on equality and clarity to the boardrooms of public institutions.

🎧 Why you should listen: If you want to understand where the UK’s legal and political systems are heading, and what lawyers will need to do to keep up, this episode is essential. Laura brings experience, honesty, and real insight into how big decisions get made behind closed doors.

👉 Subscribe now and be part of the conversation that’s changing up the UK legal sector!

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👉 Follow Laura Hughes

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-hughes-solicitor/ Profile: https://www.brownejacobson.com/people/laura-hughes

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👉 Follow Simon Marshall

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpaulmarshall/ Website: www.tbdmarketing.co.uk