Umar Aziz at DG Partners on Balance, Integrity and Building Long-Term Relationships

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.Guest RecommendationsSport: Full-contact karate Sauce of choice: Buffalo or curry sauce Resources & Links Mentioned in This EpisodeRegister your interest in joining The Lodge In-house Legal Community: https://bit.ly/TheLodgebyHB Heriot Brown: https://heriotbrown.com/ Wordsmith AI: https://www.wordsmith.ai/ Legal Engineering Project Application form: https://wordsmith.fillout.com/legalengproject Listen to the PodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/4 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/Connect with Heriot Brownhttps://heriotbrown.com/ About Heriot Brown: At Heriot Brown, we help lawyers find fulfilment in their careers. Beyond recruitment, we foster a thriving community of in-house legal professionals who share insights, experiences, and growth opportunities.Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to Lessons I Learned in Law, leave a review, and share it with someone building their career in legal leadership.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