Vodafone GC Rosemary Martin: an in-house pioneer

Want to get into Vodafone general counsel Rosemary Martin’s good books? Then steer clear of hourly rates, she tells The Lawyer this week.

“I’m allergic to hourly rates, I hate them,” she says. “I think they’re the root of a lot of what is wrong with the legal profession, so I’m a big fan of anything but hourly rate. We use fixed fees.”

Instead, Martin relies on tendering within her panel firms. Panels might run for three years but she’s clear on the ground rules. “We reserve the right to do what we like,” she says.

As in-house lawyers come under pressure to become business partners, external advisers aren’t the only ones who have to step up. According to NetOTC general counsel Joanne Thedoulou, “a lot of people talk about wanting to be a GC but it’s hard to appreciate what it really involves”.

Theoudlou is just one of more than 30 speakers at The Lawyer’s In-House Counsel as Business Partner conference on 24 and 25 November.

The conference is designed by and for corporate counsel wanting to transition to business partners that are at the forefront of their business whilst still meeting their multiple requirements around legal risk and consultation. To register, click here.

Also on TheLawyer.com:

• Currency transfer service TransferWise has created a general counsel role, appointing former Mind Candy general counsel Jenifer Swallow
• United Airlines’ general counsel Brett Hart has been named as the company’s acting CEO, while current head Oscar Munoz goes on medical leave
• Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons have retained their positions on the Royal Bank of Scotland’s top legal panel, with the bank’s review expected to conclude at the end of the year