In-house interview: from A&O capital markets to fintech start-up
When Richard Cohen left A&O to join start-up Nivaura, he stepped out of his comfort zone. Three years on and the business and his role are both expanding.
In-house interview: Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s voyage to a digital future
As executive VP at one of the world’s biggest travel management firms, Lauren Aste thrives on the challenge of taking CWT into a digital landscape and improving its mobile tech offering.
ITE Group’s Andrew Watkins: the greenfield general counsel
ITE Group’s Andrew Watkins is the events company’s first in-house lawyer – a position he has found himself in twice before.
He says the first 100 days in the role are the most vital
In-house interview: What it’s like being head of legal for hundreds of companies at once
DMA’s Asli Yildiz is taking a proactive stance on data privacy and cybersecurity, helping members to stay one step ahead of regulation.
In-house interview: bringing Cambridge University Press into the digital age
As Cambridge University Press evolves from dusty journals in a vast library to digital print, the publisher’s GC Catie Sheret aims to assist its tech offering.
In-house interview: The ex-Slaughters lawyer at the health tech start-up
Babylon’s general counsel Henry Bennett is dealing with multifaceted legal challenges at the digital health start-up.
Legal team cuts expected in Centrica’s company-wide cull
Energy and services company Centrica is to axe roles from its legal function, as part of the company’s wide-scale job cuts due to challenges in the energy market. The owner of British Gas and FTSE 100 constituent yesterday announced that it plans to cut around 700 management and back office jobs this summer, although the […]
Kier Group goes off-panel for legal advice as it axes housing business
Ashurst is acting for Kier Group in the sale of its housebuilding and property businesses, as it embarks on a two-year radical turnaround plan to lower its debt and stabilise the business. Corporate partner Nick Williamson has taken the lead for Kier, which is slashing costs by selling off its property arm Kier Living, its […]
Leicester City legal chief takes up new role ahead of Commonwealth Games
Caroline McGrory, who has led Leicester City FC’s legal team for two years, has joined as general counsel of Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth Games. McGrory joined the sporting event’s team in April and is responsible for the management of all legal issues regarding the organisation, operation and staging of the Commonwealth Games. Birmingham 2022 confirmed that […]
Thomas Cook GC moves over to FTSE 100 developer
Alice Marsden, who has led Thomas Cook’s legal operations for three years, is to become Taylor Wimpey’s general counsel at the end of this year. The move comes as Thomas Cook revealed it has been approached by its largest shareholder Fosun International for a potential sale. However, the travel operator noted there was no certainty […]
Former Latham partner finds new in-house role
Financial services provider Apex has hired Andrew Macklin as its new general counsel, following his recent in-house role at Monzo Bank. Macklin, a corporate lawyer by trade, left Latham in 2018 to fill in as Monzo’s interim legal head as the bank ramped up recruitment efforts to fill the role permanently. The role at Monzo […]
Close Brothers ends search for new GC with RateSetter hire
The general counsel of peer-to-peer lending start-up RateSetter has left the business to join merchant bank Close Brothers. Angela Yotov will take on the general counsel role at the bank in early August, replacing incumbent Elizabeth Lee, who will retire as the company’s legal head at the end of July. Lee joined Close Brothers as […]
Freshfields and Simmons dropped from enlarged Transport for London panel
Transport for London (TfL) has grown its new legal panel to 15 firms, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simmons & Simmons among three firms dropped from the roster. TfL has selected 15 firms within eight lots covering employment, major commercial, rail, routine commercial and real estate, housing, property and commercial development, highways and major consents […]
Capita launches panel review amid business overhaul
Capita has kickstarted its latest panel review, a year after announcing a transformation programme to improve the business’s finances. The business process outsourcing and professional services company has invited firms to bid for a place on its international panel, covering twelve practice areas. The deadline for submissions is Friday 17 May, with the revised panel […]
Ashurst usurps Norton Rose Fulbright as McLaren’s key adviser
Norton Rose Fulbright has lost its role as McLaren Group’s global legal adviser as the automotive manufacturer forms a new relationship with Ashurst. After a tender process, Ashurst will now work closely alongside McLaren’s in-house counsel on all aspects of its legal requirements. The company does not have a formal legal panel, instead opting to […]
WeWork to carry out inaugural panel review in Europe
WeWork is to launch its first formal panel review across Europe this year, after the arrival of its new general counsel Sarah Nelson Smith at the end of 2018. The workspace giant hired Nelson Smith from KFC over the summer, who is gearing up to review the company’s current legal arrangements in the first half […]
Twelve firms on the radar in National Grid panel review
National Grid has launched its first panel review in four years with the energy provider seeking an “unparalleled” service from its prospective legal advisers. Any firms wishing to pitch for the work has until late March. Firms will be expected to cover at least 12 listed practices. The business last renewed its panel firms in […]
NHS drops 11 firms from streamlined commercial panel
NHS Commercial Solutions has rolled out a new legal panel, with firms including Addleshaw Goddard, Clyde & Co and DAC Beachcroft winning places. The three firms have been reappointed to the procurement organisation’s framework, as well as Mills & Reeve and Trowers & Hamlins. A total of 19 firms have made it on to the new roster; new additions are Browne Jacobson, Sintons, […]
GC2B: Creating the perfect business karma for success
How can you reshape an in-house team in the image you want it to be? This was just one of the issues up for debate at The Lawyer’s latest roundtable with BCLP.
GC2B: From fintechs to banks, tech gives in-house teams the chance to reinvent themselves
At a dinner in the shadow of London’s Tower Bridge, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) hosted a group of legal heads to discuss the topic of reinventing themselves and their teams in a technology-driven world. Responses were varied and the attendees came from enormously diverse business models, though the prevailing mood was one of necessary and […]
GC2B: Managing external and internal legal teams in a global world
At The Lawyer‘s recent General Counsel Strategy Summit, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BLCP) hosted a round table on the topic ‘managing external and internal legal teams in a global world’, talking about the shaping of legal resources to business objectives, structures and diversity. BCLP partners Jonathan Morris & Rémy Blain led nine senior in-house lawyers […]
Lawyers shouldn’t play safe, they should take the lead
What does the term “progressive” mean to in-house lawyers? GCs explain how they build their in-house legal teams.
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Business ethics and the modern GC: How to navigate public scrutiny
Should in-house lawyers do the legal thing or the ethical thing? – there can be a subtle difference
Baker McKenzie better together – the benefits of an open-plan office
With a big-ticket office move potentially on the horizon, Baker McKenzie was keen to trial new ways of working
Case study: How Norton Rose Fulbright turned to Japan to become more efficient
Norton Rose Fulbright has coupled a Japanese agile-working framework with automation software to dramatically cut document production time
Case study: How A&O set up – and built out – its alumni network
A&O now has an all-encompassing alumni network, including staff past and present. Why did it feel this was an investment which would reap dividends in the years ahead?
Balfour Beatty: How to persuade 28,000 employees to do the right thing
In 2016, Balfour Beatty’s legal department embarked on one of the largest compliance programmes of its kind. How did the team embed the company’s values and processes into such a large workforce?
How Baker McKenzie built a dawn raid app
Bakers claims its app is unique in the legal market and the effort goes on to add bespoke functions for clients
Case study: how Slaughter and May improved its transactional efficiency
Slaughter and May’s solution to the challenge of increasingly complex cases involving millions of documents and seemingly endless email trails: Tiki-Toki
NI employers remain liable for higher holiday pay costs
By Leeanne Armstrong In a landmark ruling the Court of Appeal (CA) yesterday upheld an Industrial Tribunal (IT) decision that police officers and civilian staff are owed substantial back pay in respect of underpaid holiday pay. (Alexander Agnew & Others v Chief Constable for the Police Service of Northern Ireland & Others [2019] NICA 32) The original decision […]
EDPB: supervisory authority survey
With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) being in force for over a year, late last month the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued a press release containing a snapshot of certain processes in relation to the GDPR. The EDPB has highlighted some key figures at both a European and national level…
The ‘hidden epidemic’ of sexual harassment of LGBT+ people in the workplace
By Michael Briggs The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has reported that nearly seven in ten lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT+) people have been sexually harassed at work. Background In October 2017, the #MeToo campaign went viral. The campaign sparked global conversations about the prominence of sexual harassment in the workplace, and many women felt […]
What should employers expect post #MeToo?
By Stuart McBride The #MeToo movement that grabbed the headlines in 2018 shows no signs of slowing down, with campaigners now branching out beyond sexual harassment to tackle other forms of unlawful behaviour. The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (‘the Committee’) has now published its report on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in discrimination […]
Driving value by facilitating better collaboration across the business
How legal departments can provide more value by improving interdepartmental collaboration across key competencies and empowering colleagues to self-serve
GDPR a year on: 10 top tips for pensions trustees
As we pass one year after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, trustees may have thought they could heave a sigh of relief. But GDPR is for life and compliance continues to pose ongoing challenges. We’ve prepared 10 trustee tips to help to continue managing your risk and how to evidence GDPR […]
Employment essentials: top 5 lessons from May 2019
Here are our five significant employment law developments you should be aware of this month – what they are and how they might impact your business. Employers are not required to match enhanced maternity pay for fathers taking shared parental leave Working time: Employers must have a system for measuring daily working hours of their […]
Legal changes on the horizon
Shoosmiths provides a summary of some of the proposed legal changes relevant to commercial organisations anticipated in the next 12 months
Jersey pensions update
This Jersey pensions update includes the latest news in relation to: a proposed pensions regulatory regime; approved pension schemes and unapproved pension schemes in Jersey; defined benefit or defined contribution schemes in Jersey; multi-jurisdictional occupational pension schemes; pension sharing orders for divorcing couples in Jersey; Jersey discrimination laws in relation to retirement age; and Jersey […]
What the EU elections mean for Brexit
Nigel Farage’s newly formed Brexit party won the most UK seats in the EU Parliament elections, delivering a significant challenge to the nation’s two main political parties. It proved a momentous result on several fronts after the Conservatives turned in their worst electoral performance since the 1830s, securing only four seats and 9% of the vote. […]
Coworking – opportunities for landlords
June 6th was National Coworking Day across the UK. Many shared office spaces are opening their doors for one day, allowing individuals and companies to experience coworking for free. As the market for flexible office space and coworking solutions continues to grow, new shared workspaces and operators are emerging across the UK. These include, Clockwise, […]
Impact of sentencing guideline on regulatory fines
By Joanne Sear The impact of the Health and Safety, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences Definitive Guideline (the “Guideline”), introduced on 1 February 2016, has recently been analysed in a Sentencing Council report (impact assessment). Published figures show a significant increase in the sizes of fines imposed on organisations since the Guideline […]
Driving value by facilitating better collaboration across the business
How legal departments can provide more value by improving interdepartmental collaboration across key competencies and empowering colleagues to self-serve
The ‘hidden epidemic’ of sexual harassment of LGBT+ people in the workplace
By Michael Briggs The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has reported that nearly seven in ten lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT+) people have been sexually harassed at work. Background In October 2017, the #MeToo campaign went viral. The campaign sparked global conversations about the prominence of sexual harassment in the workplace, and many women felt […]
Extra time for NI tribunal claims on the horizon
By Leeanne Armstrong Whilst mandatory Early Conciliation is not yet a current requirement, we understand that the reforms provided for under the Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 will be pushed through in January 2020, even if the local Assembly remains deadlocked. Given that the indication is that Early Conciliation is likely to be brought into force […]
The New Cayman Regulatory Landscape – What Questions Should a Lender Ask?
By Derek Stenson and Michael O’Connor The Cayman Islands continue to be at the forefront of the implementation of global standards for transparency and regulatory oversight in respect of the financial services industry. While the primary responsibility for implementing regulatory requirements concerning Cayman Islands investment fund structures falls to the relevant fund manager, a knock […]
Employment essentials: top 5 lessons from May 2019
Here are our five significant employment law developments you should be aware of this month – what they are and how they might impact your business. Employers are not required to match enhanced maternity pay for fathers taking shared parental leave Working time: Employers must have a system for measuring daily working hours of their […]