Hot 100 In-house counsel 2018

Chris Gawn, CityFibre Infrastucture Holdings

Gawn, Chris – CityFibre Infrastructure

UK telecoms infrastructure company CityFibre’s CEO Greg Mesch describes his company’s mission as “building Gigabit Britain”. At the core of that build-out is company secretary and head of legal Chris Gawn, a lawyer who certainly has his hands full. Top telecoms deals CityFibre had a stellar 2017, with what looked like being its deal of […]

Ece Gürsoy, Global Ports Holdings

Gürsoy, Ece – Global Ports Holdings

  Until the end of 2017 Ece Gürsoy was chief legal officer and company secretary of renewables company Lightsource. For six years, she helped the company become the leading utility scale solar power generator in the UK. Gürsoy joined the company in 2011. Having started her life in law practising in Turkey, she requalifyed as […]

Kate Burns, NotOnTheHighStreet.com

Burns, Kate – NotOnTheHighStreet.com

Until 2016 Kate Burns had spent all her working life at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, first as an associate and then in the management team. It was during this time she was first talent-spotted for the Hot 100 in 2012. The step from global legal institution to a lean internet retailer was enormous, but Burns immediately […]

Deborah D'Aubney, Rolls Royce

D’Aubney, Deborah – Rolls-Royce

  Rolls-Royce’s top litigator Deborah D’Aubney has had quite a time of it recently. Most notably, her role defending the company in the high-profile bribery case brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Department of Justice in the US ended with a deferred prosecution agreement in January last year. The immediate challenge for […]

Vicky Sandry, Sky UK and Ireland

Sandry, Vicky – Sky UK and Ireland

Working 3.5 days a week, Vicky Sandry is a strong advocate of career development and flexibility. She began her career at Sky as a competition and regulatory lawyer in 2005. Since 2016 she has been general counsel. Sandry leads a department of over 130 staff that provides legal support to Sky’s UK and Ireland business. […]

Rob Booth The Crown Estate

Booth, Rob – Crown Estate

Rob Booth joined Crown Estate in 2012 from Herbert Smith Freehills. In 2016 he was promoted to general counsel and company secretary. Since then he has led a legal team through a raft of major deals, such as the transfer of Crown Estate to the Scottish Government in the wake of the independence referendum, a demerger that […]

Maria Ludkin, GMB

Ludkin, Maria – GMB

Maria Ludkin, GMB head of legal, fights valiantly for workers’ rights. Most recently, however, her work for the trade union has focused on companies frequently hiring in the ‘gig economy’. Food delivery service Deliveroo and taxi app Uber were particularly in her sights. Driver rights She ended 2016 with a landmark victory over Uber. Then […]

Caroline Kenny, Facebook

Kenny, Caroline – Facebook

Caroline Kenny is described by one of her admirers as a “real live wire”. And the Facebook associate general counsel has demonstrated plenty of energy during her two years at the tech giant. Having previously worked at RPC and the FT, Kenny joined the company in 2015, when the legal team numbered just three. Since […]

Mary Geraghty, Starbucks

Geraghty, Mary – Starbucks

Mary Geraghty is a builder. At Arcadia Group as group general counsel she grew its legal team from a single lawyer to 10, aligning it to support the international expansion of the brand. Flagship project This experience is serving her well in her new role; effectively she is now doing the same thing for Starbucks, […]

A picture of David Green QC who worked at the Serious Fraud Office, to illustrate The Lawyer Hot 100 Career Quiz with David Green QC career

Green QC, David – Serious Fraud Office

A tumultuous 2017 for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) provided new opportunities to shine for director David Green QC. In his last full year in charge of the body, critics and admirers alike have cited his more “muscular” approach to litigation as a sign of the body’s ongoing success. Securing the future of the SFO […]

Jens Bertelsen BP

Bertelsen, Jens – BP

Jens Bertelsen is a BP veteran of nearly three decades. His knowledge of the in-house legal function at the FTSE 100 oil giant is unparalleled. He drew on this when he took responsibility for rejigging the company’s 18-strong legal panel last year. Through a combination of fixed-fee arrangements, ‘mini-tenders’ and declining costs from events such […]

Chen Yun, Huawei Technologies

Yun, Chen – Huawei Technologies

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has become a major investor in Britain over the past decade. Consequently, experienced in-house lawyer Chen Yun has built a sizeable legal team to match its needs. The past couple of years have seen her take on some of her biggest challenges and most transformative projects to date. Cutting-edge work As […]