Set for Success: Lesley Kenny

Nic Ashton sits down with Lesley Kenny, a University of Law alumni who has built a global career in ethics and compliance, working across the UK and the United States.

Lesley reflects on her journey from early roles in the civil service and the Serious Fraud Office to leading ethics programmes in international organisations. She shares insights into working across global teams, navigating legal qualifications abroad, and offers her advice for students considering an international career path.

Transcript

Nic Ashton: Hi everyone, and welcome back to the University of Law Podcast. I’m Nic Ashton, Alumni Manager here at ULaw, and today I’m joined by Lesley Kenny.

Lesley studied law with us before going on to build an international career in compliance and ethics across the UK and the US. She currently works as a Director of Global Ethics for a global management consulting firm, and has more than 15 years’ experience working in large international organisations.

Today we’ll be chatting about her career journey since leaving ULaw, what it’s really like working abroad, and her advice for students considering a similar path.

Hi Lesley, welcome.

Lesley Kenny: Thank you for having me. I’m really excited to join the podcast and talk a little bit about my journey.

When it comes to planning an international move, travel was always very likely in my future.

As a child I lived in several international locations, including Malaysia and Ireland, before eventually moving to the UK. My parents had also lived in the US, so I really grew up in a household with a lot of international influence.

We were always talking about global issues around the dinner table, and I think that created a strong international outlook in my life.

I spent the first decade of my career working in London, and London offered a lot of opportunities, particularly straight after law school. But eventually my ambition led me to the US.

Interestingly, when I think back, I remember looking at the LLM programme that ULaw offered, which was marketed towards people who wanted that international experience and a path to qualify in the US.

At the time, I certainly didn’t anticipate that 15 years after graduating, I’d actually go back to study and complete an LLM in the US.

When I graduated from ULaw, the economic environment was quite difficult. It was shortly after the 2008 financial crisis and there were a lot of challenges within the economy.

Because of that, there was a significant focus in the UK on consumer protection, which created opportunities to apply legal skills in investigation roles.

I worked in the civil service in roles related to financial regulation, and later at the Serious Fraud Office, working on fraud-related investigations.

I’ve always had a real interest in criminal law and aspects of social justice, so the work at the Serious Fraud Office was incredibly rewarding.

While I was there, I also had the opportunity to take a secondment with the City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate.

One case that stands out involved a major boiler-room fraud targeting elderly people and stealing their pension savings through investment scams. It was incredibly meaningful work, particularly because it involved capturing criminals who had caused real harm.

The work also involved cross-border collaboration with authorities in Spain and the United States, which made it both challenging and exciting.

That experience really cemented my interest in investigations, particularly in areas like money laundering, interview techniques, and tracing financial crime.

(Lesley Kenny:) After around five years in the civil service, I decided to move into the private sector.

I applied the investigative skills I’d built, particularly around money laundering and case management, to a role in professional services. That transition is still very similar to the work I do today.

Around that time, the UK introduced new money-laundering regulations, and businesses were required to build formal compliance programmes and conduct risk assessments.

My role involved helping organisations apply legal and regulatory frameworks in practice, and that was really the start of my move into compliance and ethics programmes.

Later I joined Virgin Media, which was an FCA-regulated organisation in the UK.

There, I expanded my work into broader compliance responsibilities - managing internal investigations, supporting ethics reporting lines, and working within a large US-listed public company.

That role eventually brought me to the United States.

(Lesley Kenny:) I was able to make the international move thanks to great sponsors within the company and by building strong performance and tenure in the role.

It wasn’t the most direct path. I had already spent around ten years working in London, but eventually it did get me there.

Nic Ashton:
What does a typical day look like for you in your role?

Lesley Kenny:
It can really vary depending on the topic, the year, and the type of issues we’re dealing with.

A lot of my role is about managing risk and navigating complex problems with multidisciplinary teams.

I might be working with lawyers, managers, consultants, or business leaders, all with different backgrounds. The challenge is bringing those perspectives together to solve problems effectively.

It requires a much broader toolkit than I originally anticipated, including strategic thinking about how decisions will impact the organisation.

Day-to-day, I provide guidance on company policies, review complex matters, and help the organisation navigate risk appropriately.

A simple way to think about compliance is that when legislation is introduced, organisations need to determine what steps they must take to comply with it.

For example, in the US we have the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and compliance professionals work to design programmes that ensure the company stays within the legal guardrails required by that law.

Nic Ashton:
What are some of the perks of living and working in the US?

Lesley Kenny:
The biggest perk of living in Miami and South Florida has to be the weather.

Even in winter we can experience temperatures around 25°C, so compared to the UK it’s hard to beat!

From a professional perspective, the biggest advantage has been working with larger global teams and meeting people from all over the world.

It’s allowed me to learn about new cultures and build a lifelong network of colleagues and friends across different countries.

It’s really shifted my mindset, from thinking of myself as belonging to one country to seeing myself more as a global citizen.

(Lesley Kenny:) Since moving to the US I’ve lived in multiple states.

I spent two years in Colorado, which is very different from Florida, particularly when it comes to the winters!

That experience helped me realise just how diverse the US is. From the UK it can sometimes feel like the US is one homogenous country, but in reality each state has very different cultures and lifestyles.

Where you choose to live can completely shape your experience.

(Lesley Kenny:) One of the biggest challenges for lawyers moving abroad is that legal qualifications don’t always transfer easily between jurisdictions.

Because of that, you really need to plan your qualification path carefully.

While living in the US, I spent about two years completing additional studies and eventually obtained a US practising licence.

I completed an LLM for foreign-trained lawyers, which allowed me to sit the Uniform Bar Exam and qualify in Colorado.

It was a long process, but having a clear plan helped make it achievable.

(Lesley Kenny:) One important skill when working internationally is communication.

Early in my US career I worked closely with teams across the Caribbean and Central America. Many of my colleagues spoke Spanish as their first language.

Even though they spoke excellent English, I had to become very mindful about how I communicated complex topics, particularly when discussing technical legal issues.

One of the biggest lessons was focusing more on listening rather than just thinking about what I was going to say.

That approach helped me build stronger global relationships and lead teams with very different perspectives.

(Lesley Kenny:) One of the most memorable experiences in my career happened shortly after I arrived in the US.

I led a training programme on corruption legislation, covering both US and UK laws.

The programme involved a roadshow across the Caribbean and Latin America, delivering in-person training with an external law firm.

During that time I travelled to places like Panama City, where I visited the Panama Canal, and Bogotá, Colombia, which was memorable because the altitude made presenting a challenge!

It was an exciting time personally and professionally, and it gave me the chance to meet colleagues across the region.

(Lesley Kenny:) One piece of advice I often give students is to build strong structure and balance early on.

When I studied at ULaw, I followed a strict 9-to-5 routine, treating studying like a full-time job.

At the time I wasn’t convinced it was the best advice, but looking back it absolutely helped me stay focused and productive.

I also made sure to maintain my hobbies, especially running, which helped create a healthy balance during busy periods.

(Lesley Kenny:) If you’re applying for roles in ethics or compliance, there are three things I would recommend focusing on:

Understand the business. Learn what the organisation actually does and how it operates. That helps you apply a risk-based perspective to decisions. 

Demonstrate collaboration. Compliance roles involve working across different departments, so examples of teamwork are really important. 

Be clear about the impact you want to make. Whether it’s protecting consumers, reducing risk, or supporting organisational values, understanding your motivation will help you communicate authentically in interviews. 

(Lesley Kenny:) My biggest piece of advice is don’t wait for opportunities to come to you.

If you want an international career, you need to actively plan for it.

Understand the qualification requirements, speak to people who’ve done it before, and make your ambitions clear within your organisation.

Networking is also incredibly important, talk to alumni, mentors, and colleagues who can share their experiences.

And most importantly, ask them about their mistakes, because that’s often where the best learning comes from.

Nic Ashton: That’s fantastic advice. Alumni networks are a great way to stay connected and learn from others’ experiences.

Lesley Kenny: Exactly. Most people look back on those years very fondly and are happy to give back and support students.

So don’t be shy about reaching out.

Nic Ashton: Lesley, thank you so much for joining us.

Lesley Kenny: Thank you very much for having me.