Umar Aziz, Partner, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at DG Partners, joins Scott Brown to share lessons from a career that nearly took him into shipping brokerage before a major life event brought him back to law.
In this episode of Lessons I Learned in Law, Umar reflects on how personal circumstances shaped the start of his legal career, including his decision to return to Clifford Chance after initially turning down his training contract. His first lesson is that there is more to life than work. Drawing on his own experiences of loss, family responsibility and high-pressure legal environments, he discusses the importance of building a full life outside the job — and why excellence matters across work, family, friendships and personal pursuits.
His second lesson comes from advice he received early in his career: learn from the best bits of the lawyers around you. Umar explains why every lawyer you work with has something worth copying — and something worth leaving behind.
His final lesson challenges the idea that lawyers should always try to “win” every point. Whether negotiating with clients, managing internal teams or building long-term business relationships, Umar argues that sustainable success comes from fairness, trust and mutual respect — not squeezing every last drop out of the other side.
Along the way, Umar discusses moving from litigation into funds, the transition from private practice into DG Partners, his COO and GC role, and why full-contact karate helps him stay disciplined, present and switched off from work.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with Wordsmith AI — the legal AI platform built specifically for in-house teams.
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro – Umar Aziz & DG Partners
03:40 Turning down Clifford Chance twice
09:28 From private practice to GC & COO
16:12 Lesson 1 – There’s more to life than work
24:03 Karate, resilience & switching off
30:08 Lesson 2 – Learn from great lawyers
34:22 Lesson 3 – Winning isn’t everything
39:55 Building long-term relationships
44:31 GC, COO & wearing multiple hats
56:42 Hot or Not, AI & closing thoughts
