Meet Ben White
Building Community in Legal: Ben White on Connection, Content, and the In-House Experience
When The Exchange welcomes Ben White in July 2025, our community will hear from someone who identified a critical gap in the legal ecosystem and built a thriving platform to address it—a journey that offers valuable lessons for legal operations professionals looking to drive meaningful change.
As the founder of Crafty Counsel, Ben has created a media startup that brings "joy, insight, and connection to in-house legal professionals"—transforming how in-house lawyers build networks, nurture careers, and access resources.
From Law Firm to Startup Founder
Ben's journey began at Clifford Chance, where he trained and qualified into the Corporate team. After seven years, he made the leap to an in-house role at Global Fashion Group, a holding company for several large fast-fashion e-commerce brands worldwide.
This transition revealed a challenge many in-house lawyers face: the sudden disconnection from the robust network, knowledge resources, and professional community that law firms provide. Rather than accepting this as an inevitable part of in-house life, Ben saw an opportunity to create something new.
In 2018, what began as a "side hustle" has evolved into one of the most comprehensive platforms supporting in-house legal professionals across the UK and beyond.
Creating a New Kind of Legal Community
Crafty Counsel's approach to community-building is particularly relevant for legal operations teams looking to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing:
Running the UK's most comprehensive event series for in-house legal, from the landmark summer event Crafty Fest to sector-specific conferences and intimate gatherings
Facilitating digital forums for asynchronous conversation and recommendation exchanges
Hosting Chatham House Rule-based Zoom calls for different in-house legal groups
Publishing relevant content across videos, podcasts, articles, and reports
This multi-faceted approach demonstrates how thoughtfully designed touchpoints can create vibrant professional communities—even without the structural advantages of traditional organisations.
Why Ben's Perspective Matters for Legal Ops
Ben's experience offers several valuable insights for legal operations professionals:
Identifying Systemic Gaps: Like Ben spotting the need for in-house community resources, legal ops professionals excel by identifying and addressing structural inefficiencies.
Creating Solutions at Scale: Crafty Counsel shows how a focused initiative can grow to serve an entire segment of the profession—a model for impactful operations improvements.
Building Community Around Shared Challenges: Ben's ability to unite professionals facing similar issues mirrors the collaborative problem-solving at the heart of effective legal operations.
Leveraging Content as Connection: Crafty Counsel's content strategy demonstrates how thoughtfully created resources can foster both learning and relationship-building.
The Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking in Legal
Perhaps most inspiring is how Ben's entrepreneurial mindset transformed a personal pain point into a thriving platform that serves thousands. This approach—seeing challenges as opportunities—is precisely the perspective that drives innovation in legal operations.
From starting a "side hustle" while working as Corporate Counsel to building a comprehensive resource that's reshaping how in-house lawyers connect, Ben's journey demonstrates the impact one individual can have when they identify a need and take action to address it.
Join the Conversation
Tuesday, July 8, 2025, 12:30-1:30pm GMT
The Exchange podclub is designed for legal operations professionals who want to improve the delivery of legal services through innovation, connection, and idea-sharing. Each monthly session features thought-provoking content selected by our guest speaker, followed by facilitated discussion and networking.
