Bjarne P. Tellmann

CEO at FjordStream Advisors

Bjarne P. Tellmann is CEO of FjordStream Advisors GmbH and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. He previously served as Founding General Counsel and Executive Committee member at Haleon plc (FTSE 20), and as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Pearson plc (FTSE 100). He is the author of two books: Law in the Era of AI: Clients, Firms, and the Future of the Legal Industry (Wiley, 2026) and Building an Outstanding Legal Team (Globe Law and Business, 2017). Tellmann speaks and teaches regularly at numerous academic institutions, including Harvard and the London School of Economics, as well as at leading global conferences and executive leadership forums. His honors include General Counsel of the Year at the British Legal Awards, the Burton Award for Legends in the Law, and inclusion in the Chambers GC Influencers Global 100.

My Articles

Law Department Management

Legal Expertise Isn’t Enough: Lawyers Must Now Think Like CEOs to Stay Competitive

Bjarne P. Tellmann, CEO of FjordStream Advisors, explores why today's most effective lawyers and GCs must combine legal judgment with commercial acumen, enterprise risk management, and strategic leadership to help organizations navigate uncertainty and drive business outcomes.

Technology, Privacy, and eCommerce

Digital Transformation and the Legal Industry

“Digital transformation” is a phrase that is increasingly heard in legal circles. But what exactly does it mean?

Career Development

Time for a Change

Change invariably comes packed with a lot of big emotions, including fear, elation, depression, and exhaustion. It is important to recognize this as a natural part of the process; so you should know that the emotional roller coaster your team is about to get on has its own cycle of stages. Recognizing those stages makes them easier to manage.

Law Department Management

Legal 2.0

The legal profession has experienced several years of upheaval and disruption. General counsel are now optimizing their internal service delivery model in the same way that they have done with their external ones.

Law Department Management

The Rise of Legal Procurement

Any GC who presides over a significant legal budget is failing to do her job if she does not involve procurement experts in her purchasing decisions.

Cultural Competence

Employment and Labor

Mentoring and Diversity

Diversity is intrinsically desirable from a social justice perspective. But it also makes good business sense.

Cultural Competence

Deep Diversity

Have you considered the kind of diversity you need? In addition to ethnic, racial, and gender, other aspects including cognition and personality may be important.

Career Development

The Importance of Grit

Our culture has a tendency to focus on talent and intelligence over grit. However, when the chips are down and you are in the middle of a crisis, you definitely want to be surrounded by gritty people.

Career Development

The Power of Storytelling

Ultimately, what you say is less important than how you say it. To be persuasive, you need to learn how to tell stories.

Law Department Management

The Rise of the In-house Specialist

However many you need, you will certainly save enormous expense and generate far better outcomes by in-sourcing specialists. The trend is clear, and given the benefits, the number of in-house specialists is likely to keep rising over the next few years.

Technology, Privacy, and eCommerce