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Through a corporate spinoff and rebuild, business transformation, rapid growth and a spate of acquisitions, Legal is looked at to keep a steady hand at the helm. Contracts remain active. Customers expect consistency. Internal teams seek direction while governance structures take shape. In regulated environments, speed and clarity are essential. At 3E, the transition came with a change in ownership, new investment, and bold technology plans. The legal function needed to advance as quickly as the business.
Audrey Jean stepped into that environment as General Counsel with a clear understanding of the stakes. 3E supports manufacturers and retailers navigating chemical, product, and sustainability requirements across the globe. Its customers rely on regulatory knowledge and accuracy and a corporate and legal framework that supports this important work. That dependence shapes how Legal operates internally. “This opportunity allowed me to build a department, create a full-scale legal function in a global environment, modernize our processes, and support the company’s growth,” Audrey explains.
Her role extends beyond managing risk. Legal sits close to product strategy, commercial decisions, data use, and workforce planning. As 3E grows globally and invests in AI-driven solutions, Legal participates in those discussions instead of reacting once decisions are made.
Building legal from separation
Audrey’s approach reflects her career, spanning deal execution and long-term enterprise advising. She started in private practice, handling project finance and M&A transactions at global firms. That work centered on structure, negotiation, and risk allocation.
Audrey’s perspective shifted when she spent time seconded into a client’s legal department. The experience introduced her to a different rhythm of legal work, one shaped less by transactions and more by continuity, trust, and organizational context. “I enjoyed collaborating with the same stakeholders over time, seeing long‑term goals take shape, and gaining insight into institutional risks and culture,” she said. That realization led her away from the cyclical and transaction cadence of an M&A practice, toward roles where legal judgment developed alongside the business itself.
She moved in‑house to Discovery Channel, then to Bloomberg Law, and finally to AARP before joining 3E. Each role placed her within organizations balancing growth, governance, and stakeholder expectations, while providing trusted solutions to their customers. Over time, she led teams and managed legal operations across different industries and organizational models.
When Audrey joined 3E, the legal department was small and US-based. Coverage existed, but scale, subject matter and regional depth did not. Her immediate priority involved listening. She met with leaders across the business to understand expectations and pressure points. “We spent the first phase understanding what the team handled well, where gaps existed, and what the business actually needed from Legal,” Audrey notes.
From there, the department focused on targeted growth. Commercial contracting remained core, while coverage expanded to privacy, labor and employment across the globe, corporate governance, strategic transactions, IP, enterprise risk management, and legal operations. Lawyers now work closer to the regions they support.
Ann O’Neil, Contract Specialist in Carlsbad, California (US) describes the shift. “Growing from a three-person, US-based team into a globally distributed group of seven goes beyond headcount. It reflects how the department has matured and how central Legal has become to supporting a global business.”
Marine Paye, Corporate Counsel in Paris, France came aboard during the expansion. “The Legal Department has shifted from a predominantly US-centered structure to one with lawyers embedded across regions. That transformation has made my role broader and more strategic,” she remarks.
Law inside product decisions
As structure evolved, technology adoption accelerated. 3E invests in AI across its products and internal systems. Legal plays a role in shaping how those tools operate and how their use aligns with customer expectations and regulatory standards.
Audrey started with the foundations. The team built shared knowledge bases, contract positions, and policy guidance before introducing automation. That order mattered. “You can’t just throw a playbook into a tool and expect good outcomes without building consistency and shared understanding first,” she explains.
Within Legal, AI supports tasks like document review, drafting, and summarization. Ann explains the impact. “Within Legal, we’ve implemented AI tools for communication, contract review, and document summarization. That shift has reduced time spent on repetitive work and expanded both my knowledge base and my role within the company.”
AI governance extends beyond Legal’s internal use. The department works closely with business leaders to shape how AI is implemented across 3E’s products and processes. Audrey views Legal’s responsibility as enabling progress while setting guardrails that allow teams to innovate with confidence.
For Kait Ramsay, Corporate Counsel in Bethesda, Maryland (US), AI enhances judgment rather than replacing it. “I use AI as a starting point to draft or think through an issue, then I test the results. It doesn’t replace judgment. It sharpens how precise and deliberate I need to be.”
Lena Buttkus, Senior Corporate Counsel in Canton, Ohio (US), framed the business impact. “Our innovation focuses on making Legal more scalable and more aligned with the business. The goal is to stay embedded in decision‑making rather than acting as a separate checkpoint.”
Practicing law across borders
Global reach introduces complexity beyond regulation. 3E operates across North America, Europe, and Asia. Legal mirrors that footprint. Audrey placed lawyers where the business operates, prioritizing time zones, language, and jurisdictional knowledge.
Weekly meetings connect the team, and smaller working groups and twice-yearly in-person retreats support them. Those off-site meetings focus on shared learning, professional development and teambuilding, not active requests. Team members compare how laws work across regions, often finding differences that influence company planning.
Gavrail Poterov, Regional Counsel EU situated in Sofia, Bulgaria, highlights the operational dimension. “Working across jurisdictions and time zones has shown me that prioritization and communication matter as much as legal analysis.”
Marine observes the same balance in practice. “Most matters involve several jurisdictions, stakeholders, and time zones. Aligning expectations across regions is as critical as the legal analysis itself.”
For Ann, the global scope reshaped her role. “On any given day, I might be working with colleagues in France or Bulgaria, coordinating with our Japanese sales team, or supporting European partners. That exposure has broadened my knowledge and strengthened my versatility.”
Lena shares another lesson. “The biggest surprise was not legal complexity, but how differently trust and communication operate across cultures. Global work rewards curiosity and humility.”
Audrey encourages that perspective across the department. Baseline guidance provides consistency, while local context informs decisions. Knowledge sharing remains central.
Leadership inside Legal reflects that system‑building mindset. Audrey gives ownership early; pairs project management with legal training and expects consistency without rigidity. Automation follows clarity.
Gavrail summarizes the outcome. “By turning manual legal work into a scalable function, we’ve created the space to act as true business partners.”
Kait describes its effect on development. “The department’s shift toward a proactive approach has accelerated how I think about balancing legal risk with business priorities.”
As 3E continues to expand its product line, invest in technology, and grow globally, Legal remains part of the conversation from the start. Audrey measures progress through clarity and pace rather than volume. The systems continue to evolve, shaped by the same principles that guided their creation.
