Emma-Jane Tritton
Meet Emma-Jane Tritton, Lead Counsel, Anti-Counterfeiting & Brand Protection at Richemont. Part of the Richemont Legal Team since 2013, Emma-Jane has been able to visit the different regions to experience the Maison's character and culture. For her, seeing products in real life is always a great reminder that her and the team are part of protecting the spirit of the Maisons with digital anti-counterfeiting and brand protection activities.
My career journey
My career path in the Group has been quite a journey - I have had six different positions in eight years at Richemont. I joined the Group as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal in June 2013. To qualify as a lawyer in the UK, I needed to do a training contract which consists of working for two years as an assistant to be trained by more senior lawyers. I also studied at law school part-time in the evenings. My managers at the time were immensely supportive in setting up the training for me and always encouraging me to progress in my career. Doing this type of training in-house within an organisation (compared to training at a law firm) is not that common, but the great support that I had allowed me to qualify as a lawyer in 2016 while still working at Richemont.
I have been part of the Intellectual Property team (IP) within Group Legal ever since I joined. I have worked on several projects but have always been involved with digital anti-counterfeiting and brand protection activities. I took over responsibility for this a few years ago and am also now responsible for offline matters, heading up the anti-counterfeiting team globally and bringing both online and offline together at Richemont for the first time to create a full spectrum anti-counterfeiting strategy. I feel that I have been very lucky to progress so much in my career within Richemont - I never would have imagined when I took my first legal assistant job in 2013 that I would end up in this position that I am in now.
“Progress, not perfection means always trying to educate myself, to evolve and improve, and trying to have a growth-oriented mindset. There is always more to learn, which is exciting!”
My biggest learning
The value of teamwork and collaboration is absolutely vital to me now. Within the Intellectual Property team, we have the overall shared goal of ensuring that our Maisons and their products are protected to the best extent that we can. Any successes that I have had, such as achieving good results in court cases or with online takedowns, are the results of all the great teamwork and input from all of my colleagues.
I have also learned that it is really important to consider and be fed with different views and expertise. My role is global in tackling the problem of counterfeiting worldwide, and I think it is necessary to be quite humble and to recognize that you might not be a subject expert in every particular country or project. There are different specifities and processes in local markets, and we need to adapt our anti-counterfeiting strategies and actions for each region that we work in. I also think it is crucial to trust your team on such matters: I have team members in several different global locations and I defer to them as subject experts on how to work in their countries and regions.
Furthermore, I have definitely seen the importance of being adaptable to change and staying up to date with new trends. The nature of work that I do is very fast-moving. For example, we are monitoring new technologies such as live streaming sales very closely, since it is a new and fast-growing way of selling goods online - unfortunately, counterfeiters are using it too. I have had to learn how to be flexible and quick to react in my position, which is a very good thing!
Some final words
Besides all the personal knowledge I have been able to acquire, I have been very surprised by the longevity within Richemont. There are so many people across the various Maisons and functions that have had such amazing long journeys and careers here. There is an incredible length of service which you do not see very often. People are quick to change jobs nowadays, but the Group is very willing to foster talent and invest in people to grow and improve within their roles.
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