Victoria Cochrane was Ernst & Young’s (E&Y) first lawyer when she arrived at the accountancy firm in 1991. She now heads the UK legal function, which is responsible for managing legal affairs as well as E&Y’s risk. In addition, Cochrane is a partner in E&Y, giving her role clout with the firm’s accountants.

Much of the past four years have been dedicated to managing the mammoth £2.6bn claim brought against E&Y by Equitable Life. That saw Cochrane working closely with her external advisers to deal with and ultimately settle the case.

But Cochrane is also a vigorous campaigner for legislative change, which would limit auditors’ liability and thus prevent another case on the scale of Equitable. With the Company Law Reform Bill currently in the House of Lords in draft form, her campaigning could soon pay off.