Google has hired a new general counsel to head its growing UK legal team, snapping up Expedia’s rated European legal chief Luisa Edwards.
Edwards will oversee the expansion of Google’s legal team in the UK.
More hires are likely to follow for Google in Europe as the company searches for legal chiefs in Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, Moscow and Zurich. Under Edwards’ leadership, the Expedia legal team grew from one to five lawyers in Europe. Edwards managed the function across multiple jurisdictions in Europe and introduced structured billing procedures to get a tighter grip on legal expenses.
Edwards will be kept busy at Google, which is a key player in the online privacy debate. Earlier this year European regulators voiced concerns about how the company stores search data, prompting it to announce that it would only keep records for 18 months.
Edwards will report to Google European general counsel Nigel Jones, who is based in the company’s European headquarters in Dublin.
