Sarah Briscall reflects on a career journey that’s spanned a global drinks company, a period in Dubai, and her current role as a director at DWF — while offering students practical advice on becoming commercially aware
When DWF director Sarah Briscall graduated in 2008 at the height of the then financial crisis, the legal job market was brutal. “Training contracts were really hard to come by,” she recalls. Firms were cutting budgets and roles. “It was super competitive, and the number of training contracts had been reduced substantially.”
Undeterred, Briscall took a pragmatic approach. “I decided to basically just go away and get as much legal experience as possible whilst applying for training contracts in the background,” she says. That meant taking any legal work she could find to build her CV.
Her first role was in debt recovery at a large law firm, supporting clients including local authorities and universities. The work was “quite straightforward and process driven,” but it was her “first foray into a big law firm,” and she gained valuable experience managing a high volume of cases. After two years, still hunting for a training contract, an unexpected opportunity came up 4,000 miles away.
“When an opportunity arose to move out to Dubai in the Middle East to work with a law firm out there,” she says, “I jumped at it.” Having “no ties to the UK at the time” made the decision easier. At a boutique dispute resolution firm in the Dubai International Financial Centre, she worked on “really intricate, high-value, complex cases.” It was a world away from debt recovery, and Briscall “sought to learn as much as possible” from close mentoring in a small team. But after a year she had “exhausted all progression there” and began looking for her next step, one that would change her career direction entirely.
“An opportunity arose to move in-house with PepsiCo, obviously a global brand and I just thought this is going to be great,” she recalls. This was her introduction to commercial contracts, and it opened her eyes to a different side of legal work. “It really gave me that insight into a business outside of law, what the business is trying to achieve and why and how legal teams can support.”
At PepsiCo she was “thrown in at the deep end” on major transactions, collaborating with marketing, finance and regulatory teams. The experience made her realise she preferred to be “on the front foot” drafting deals rather than resolving disputes after they went wrong. “During that time I realised that you could draft the contracts to future-proof against historic or common issues and prevent them from arising,” she says. It was a lightbulb moment that set her on the path to becoming a commercial contracts specialist.
Armed with international experience, Briscall returned to the UK determined to qualify as a solicitor. In 2015, seven years after graduating, she secured her training contract and qualified into commercial contracts. “That’s where I’ve been ever since,” she smiles. After building her expertise at both regional and international firms, she joined DWF in 2022 as a director in its commercial team. It was a full-circle moment, having once been rejected by the firm for a training contract.
“I’m coming up to my third anniversary with the firm and it has absolutely flown by,” she says. DWF’s collaborative culture, she adds, “has absolutely lived up to its reputation.”
In her current role, no two days are the same. “We get to work on a breadth of contract types,” she explains, from manufacturing and supply agreements to software licences and major outsourcing deals. Briscall admits a soft spot for industrial and tech contracts, especially in manufacturing. “I do personally love contracts in the manufacturing space,” she says. “They’re often complex, forming part of vast supply chains and involving cutting-edge equipment.”
“It can be quite techy, which I’m really interested in,” she continues. Having grown up with a dad in engineering, she enjoys understanding “how things work” and making sure “the contract reflects this”.
One recent project saw DWF advise a major retailer’s manufacturing division on switching suppliers after service standards slipped. “We really had to get into the nitty-gritty of what was happening and basically unpick the current contract to see how we could move away from that provider,” she explains. “Multiple stakeholders, tight timelines and intricate drafting were all part of the challenge”.
Briscall also highlights how DWF’s commercial lawyers work closely with the firm’s Legal Operations team to deliver more efficient, tech-enabled services. The key, she says, is “working smarter, not harder.” Sometimes that means process mapping, building playbooks, or introducing automation to speed up drafting. “The client sees the various DWF teams as a single offering,” she adds, with lawyers and consultants working seamlessly together to deliver a joined-up service.
As someone at the forefront of commercial contracting, Briscall keeps a close eye on wider business trends. ESG (environmental, social and governance) is a major one. Once dismissed as a buzz-phrase, it’s now “very intrinsic and woven through the contracts” her team works on. “What we’re really seeing now is how clients are bringing it to life,” she notes, embedding sustainability goals and net-zero commitments into supplier agreements. “Suppliers don’t really have a choice other than to commit to it,” she says. It has become a basic business expectation.
Geopolitical turbulence is another recurring challenge. Trade tariffs, sanctions and shifting global alliances all have knock-on effects for supply chains. Briscall recalls how US tariffs during the Trump era caught some clients off guard: “They’re wrestling with the idea of either taking a financial hit or looking at what their contract says as to how they can cleverly deal with that.”
Her solution is future-proofing. “It plays a big role,” she explains, by building exit routes and contingency plans into contracts. Sanctions can complicate matters, particularly around intellectual property. “If a contract is suddenly cut off due to sanctions, does the client have the right to take the needed IP to an alternative supplier and keep things running?” she asks. Addressing such risks upfront has become an essential part of modern commercial lawyering.
And of course, no conversation about the future of law is complete without mentioning artificial intelligence. “I think the main one is AI,” Briscall says. It’s rapidly moving from hype to reality. Clients now assume “there will be some incorporation of AI,” whether in the law firm’s own service delivery or in their own products and those of suppliers. The difficulty, she notes, is that “the legal and regulatory landscape hasn’t caught up yet.” Her role often involves helping clients navigate that uncertainty, “making sure it’s got longevity” by building flexibility and compliance into AI-related contracts.
With such a fast-moving landscape, how does Briscall stay commercially aware? “I always joke with colleagues that each day is a school day,” she laughs. Even now, “I’m still seeing things that I’ve never seen before landing on my desk.”
Her advice for aspiring lawyers is to stay curious but strategic. “I always say to more junior colleagues… it’s about being smart and investing in a strategy rather than a scattergun approach,” she says. Instead of reading everything, focus on the sectors, businesses or clients that genuinely interest you. “Your commercial awareness is only going to grow if you’ve got a genuine interest in an area — otherwise, it’s really difficult to stay motivated.”
Her practical tip? Set targeted Google alerts or follow a few key publications in your chosen sector and regularly check law firm websites for updates on deals that clients have completed. But remember, she warns, “newsletters and briefings can lag behind real-time events.” And always think ahead when working in the law. “Once you’ve delivered something, use your commercial knowledge to think what will be the next question that you’re asked?” she advises. Anticipating those next steps “will stand them in good stead.”
Briscall’s own journey, from graduating amidst a financial crisis to qualifying years later and becoming a director at a global law firm, shows the value of perseverance, adaptability and curiosity. In her words: “You never know where your unconventional route might lead.”
Sarah Briscall will be speaking at The Big Commercial Awareness Themes of 2025-26 — with DWF, Goodwin, Irwin Mitchell, Morrison Foerster, TLT and ULaw. This virtual student event will take place on Monday 10 November. Apply now.
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