Profile: Simon Dowson-Collins, HarperCollins UK

The media lawyer talks about daytime TV and taking the top spot at the publishing giant.

Although not recommended for your average wannabe general counsel (GC), before rising up to become HarperCollins’ most senior UK lawyer, Simon Dowson-Collins’ in-house career began by watching television during the day.

Formerly with media firm Wright Webb Syrett, which merged with the now defunct Davenport Lyons, Dowson-Collins’ enviable first taste of life on the buy-side was as a media defamation litigator at the BBC, checking programmes such as Have I Got News for You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and They Think It’s all Over.

‘It was great. I used to watch television for a living all day,’ says Dowson-Collins.

‘I used to go to the recording of Have I Got News for You, and that was nerve-wracking because it was an established and important programme for the BBC. When I went in, the directors of Hat Trick Productions went: “Ah, the new boy.”‘

Headhunted in 2001 for the role of director of legal affairs at HarperCollins, Dowson-Collins was once again the new boy, but in April this year was elevated from that role to GC, the most senior legal position in the UK publishing business, overseeing compliance and government affairs alongside his existing responsibilities.

With high-profile authors including JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin, Veronica Roth, David Walliams and Nigel Slater on the books, Dowson-Collins says: ‘It’s a bit like what I did at the BBC; I checked what went into TV programmes and now I check what goes into books. I also spend a lot of time thinking about the commercial relationships we have with retailers such as Amazon, Apple and Google, as well as traditional book retailers like Waterstones and WHSmith.

‘Going in-house is no longer an easy option,’ he adds. ‘The complexity of our business is 100 times more than when I started. It’s an incredibly challenging but rich environment for lawyers these days.’

The environment can also be litigious, and notable cases in recent years have included the $80m lawsuit brought in 2012 by HarperCollins and the estate of Tolkien over the licensing of characters and plots from The Lord of the Rings in online gambling games.

Both companies sought external advice, with Warner Bros represented by O’Melveny & Myers’ trial lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, while the Tolkien estate was represented by Los Angeles firm Greenberg Glusker. In 2009 HarperCollins had also settled a case against Warner Brothers stemming from a dispute over payment.

Dowson-Collins, who now oversees a team of 13, has also been involved in establishing an anti-piracy function for the company in the last two years and has made changes in response to an investigation into the so-called agency model – under which publishers rather than retailers set the price of e-books – by the European Commission, which settled in 2012.

The Commission had concerns that HarperCollins, alongside Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and Apple, had restricted the price of cheap e-books, in breach of EU antitrust legislation.

Dowson-Collins says: ‘Making the organisation compliant not just with competition, but regulatory, anti-bribery and good practice, has been a strategic shift for the business.’

‘I don’t want to see a £1,000 bill for five hours of trainee research. I just don’t think that’s viable in the profession these days.’
Simon Dowson-Collins, HarperCollins UK

For other issues the in-house team can’t handle, Dowson-Collins turns to a quartet of longstanding advisers, including Allen & Overy (corporate/M&A), Addleshaw Goddard (commercial), Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (antitrust and competition) and Wiggin (media law).

‘Sometimes you just need a big City firm that does it on a day-to-day basis. You pay for the expertise,’ he says.

He is candid about his high expectations of external counsel. He dislikes hourly rates and expects fixed pricing alongside a collaborative, user-friendly service from outside lawyers. ‘I don’t expect to pay for know-how. I don’t want to see a £1,000 bill for five hours of trainee research. I just don’t think that’s viable in the profession these days. You pay for tactical and strategic advice that will add value to the business in saving money if it’s adversarial or negotiating a decent agreement between the parties involved. I pay for manpower because I have a small department and for knowledge of areas we’re not aware of.’

Dowson-Collins adds: ‘In-house is a much more efficient and cost-effective way of providing legal services for most issues. What can’t be replicated externally is the personal relationships within the business. Your clients know you’re a trusted adviser with the best interests of the business at heart – so you’re not a drain on limited resources. I see our role as being gatekeepers and as sophisticated users of legal suppliers. We should know when it’s appropriate for external advisers to charge an amount for a piece of work.’

Certainly the team covers a vast array of expertise, from invested strategy; divestment of assets; brand protection (including that of the Tolkien, Agatha Christie and CS Lewis estates); to legal management of property, logistics, sales, organisation, intellectual property and corporate.

Shaping this approach are the words of his first boss, legendary libel lawyer Oscar Beuselinck, who he worked for at Wright Webb Syrett.

‘Two things occur to me now, which resonate on the skills you need in-house. The first is, you have to advise without fear or favour. Don’t get too close or give advice you think people want to hear. The second is, you’re not a postbox. You don’t get stuff from the client, put it in a bundle with a pink ribbon and send it off to the counsel to get the answer. That doesn’t work in-house. I’m sure it doesn’t work in private practice anymore, if it ever did. You’re expected to add value if you touch something. You might as well not be there otherwise.’