When it comes to law, what drives Alexa Lamont is how people learn, how judgment is formed, and how complex ideas are made understandable – whether you’re training a junior associate, advising a business team, or explaining the legal system to the public.
In a career that encompasses being a Knowledge Lawyer at Mishcon de Reya, as well as an actor, Alexa balances legal expertise, education, creativity and innovation, helping lawyers stay sharp as the pace and nature of legal work continue to change.
Learning happens in context
“I actually started with acting,” Alexa explains. “I love the rehearsals. The creative process. Working through problems as a group. Trying things, seeing what works, and seeing what doesn’t.”
That mindset has carried through into her legal career. Early on, Alexa trained as a barrister, drawn by the overlap between advocacy and performance.However, she found that in-house legal work was a better early-career fit, particularly the collaborative, problem-solving nature of commercial contracts.
“As an in-house lawyer, you’re constantly translating,” she says. “You’re explaining legal concepts to people who don’t think like lawyers. You have to be clear. You have to be pragmatic. And you have to find solutions.”
Those skills were sharpened during her time at the BBC, where she spent several years working on commercial contracts across emerging technology, digital games, and large-scale marketing initiatives. Immersed in a media organisation built around communication and accountability, Alexa developed a deep appreciation for clarity, and for meeting audiences where they are.
Knowledge law as infrastructure
As a Knowledge Lawyer, Alexa operates as part of Mishcon de Reya’s internal infrastructure, ensuring that its lawyers have the information, training, and context they need to do their best work.
“The law is constantly moving,” she says. “New legislation and new case law, sometimes subtle changes, sometimes significant ones. My job is to track those developments and communicate them in a way that’s actually usable.”
That means training programmes, live webinars, research notes, and increasingly, new formats for engagement. Drawing on her media background, Alexa has been instrumental in expanding Mishcon’s use of video, from short-form social content to more polished webinar experiences.
“We started seeing much higher engagement with video than with traditional articles,” she says. With the common thread being accessibility, not dumbing things down, but making complex material easier to absorb.
Why storytelling still matters
Storytelling plays a central role in how Alexa teaches law, and how she thinks about it.
“Case law is all about stories,” she says. “Things that happened, decisions that were made, and lessons we can learn.”
That belief comes to life in her performance work, where she recreates historic trials for public audiences with real judges and barristers involved. One current production explores the case of Ruth Ellis, the last woman in the UK to be hanged. The story is used to show how legal frameworks, and societal understanding, have evolved over time.
“It’s about education,” Alexa says. “Helping people understand how the legal system works, and how it changes."
It’s the same principle she applies internally. Scenario-based training, she explains, is far more effective than abstract explanation, particularly when lawyers are navigating unfamiliar territory.
AI as a learning tool
That unfamiliar territory increasingly includes generative AI.
For Alexa, the value of AI in legal work is clear, particularly in knowledge, research, and training contexts, but only when used deliberately.
“There’s a huge volume of legal text,” she says. “AI helps you find the needle in the haystack, that one useful insight hidden in a large body of material.”
Using Legora, Alexa has incorporated AI directly into training exercises, allowing lawyers to experiment in a structured, responsible way. “It’s about supporting thinking,” she says.
AI can help stress-test arguments, surface weaknesses, automate repetitive tasks, and generate scenarios that deepen understanding, freeing lawyers to focus on judgment, nuance, and strategy.
Oversight remains non-negotiable
If AI changes how lawyers work, it doesn’t change what ultimately matters.
“Human judgment is the bedrock of law,” Alexa says. “That hasn’t changed.”
AI outputs still need to be assessed, contextualised, and sometimes corrected. Without strong judgment, even the most sophisticated tools fall short.
That’s especially true when it comes to training junior lawyers. While some traditional learning experiences may evolve, Alexa is clear that fundamentals still matter.
“Although autopilot was introduced in aviation, pilots need regular training in manual flying,” she says. “They still need to be able to fly the plane in an emergency. Law needs to do the same.”
Building on this principle, at Mishcon she offer commercial contract drafting workshops to businesses. These are designed to help people keep up their manual drafting and negotiating skills in the age of AI.
It also means evolving training models, by embedding AI into how those skills are developed, and recognising that learning now flows both ways. Junior lawyers may be more fluent with new tools; senior lawyers bring experience and judgment. Bringing those perspectives together, Alexa believes, is where real progress happens.
Creativity, curiosity, and the next generation
One of the most interesting shifts Alexa has observed is who stands out amongst newer lawyers.
“It’s often the creative ones,” she says. “The ones who are curious, who experiment, and who use AI in thoughtful ways to find better solutions.”
As automation takes on more process-driven work, she expects the more human skills, creativity, communication, and relationship-building, to become even more valuable.
“These are the things that can’t be automated,” she says. “They’re what differentiate great lawyers.”
Nudging change, not forcing it
For lawyers considering non-traditional paths, into knowledge, innovation, or educational legal roles, Alexa’s advice is pragmatic. “You don’t have to change everything overnight,” she says. “Just have a goal in mind and nudge yourself in that direction with every decision you make. Over time, that adds up.”
When it comes to bringing more sceptical lawyers along, Alexa is pragmatic rather than evangelical. “Lawyers tend to have a healthy level of caution,” she says, “which is part of good risk management, but change actually sticks when it starts small.” Instead of overwhelming people with everything a new tool can do, she focuses on teaching one simple, useful skill at a time. Once lawyers experience a clear, tangible benefit, curiosity tends to take over and experimentation follows naturally. It’s an approach shaped as much by her teaching and performance background as her legal one: clarity matters, complexity can alienate, and progress happens when people feel confident enough to explore for themselves.
Real momentum behind change
At Mishcon de Reya, Alexa describes an environment with real momentum behind new ideas. One where experimentation is encouraged and support follows quickly. She has consistently found colleagues willing to ask “how do we make this work?” rather than “why should we change?” That openness, she says, creates the conditions for practical innovation: small initiatives are tested, refined, and scaled, with a clear focus on improving how lawyers communicate, learn, and ultimately deliver their work.
In a profession often defined by precedent and precision, Alexa Lamont is helping shape something equally important: how lawyers learn, adapt, and apply judgment in a world where technology is moving fast, but the human role remains central.
