Rising Star: Matt Bland, Linklaters
Key clients: Friends Life, Julius Baer, Novartis, Lloyds Banking Group Partner since 2008 Why corporate? The sheer variety. The access to senior decision-makers in clients was fantastic.
Rising Star: Chris McGaffin, Slaughter and May
Key clients: ARM Holdings, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Shire, Aggreko, WS Atkins Partner since 2015 As a grammar school boy from Northern Ireland, I had two choices: lawyer or doctor, or I would get thrown out of the house. I did work experience at 15 at the local hospital. When I saw what the junior doctors had …
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Leadership and the modern GC: a special report
We teamed up with Reed Smith to ask which skills the GCs of tomorrow will need to lead and what the future holds for in-house leadership training. Menu Taught leaders – executive training for the ambitious GC The next step – meet the GCs determined to seize leadership roles The art of leadership in Asia …
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The Last Word – My way
‘Do not come to a problem from dogma or rigid ideology.’ Tony West, PepsiCo As part of our Insight report on GC leadership, we asked senior in-house counsel how to lead from the front Be consistent ‘You’ve got to be conscious that you cast a powerful shadow in the team so you need to be …
Deal watch: Corporate activity in October 2016
CC and Davis Polk On $8bn China IPO: Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Postal Savings Bank of China on its Hong Kong Stock Exchange float, with Clifford Chance leading for the underwriting banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. King & Wood Mallesons acted as Chinese counsel to the banks, while Haiwen & Partners …
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Perspectives: Clare Wardle, Coca-Cola European Partners
Recruited from FTSE 100 company Kingfisher to oversee the legal function at the newly-merged soft drink entity Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), Clare Wardle has plenty of leadership experience to undertake the challenge of integrating the three legal teams at Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke. Wardle was called to the Bar in 1984 …
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Perspectives: Sabine Chalmers, Anheuser-Busch InBev
‘The leadership aspect of my role has definitely increased as the company has grown,’ notes Sabine Chalmers, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s chief legal and corporate affairs officer. Following AB InBev’s $104bn acquisition of SABMiller, this is putting it mildly. Mega-deals aside, the need for leadership skills has also come with the broadening of the legal function at …
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Perspectives: Albert Wang, 3M
‘There are all sorts of platitudes about leadership,’ says Albert Wang, general counsel (GC) for Asia-Pacific at 3M. ‘You hear them all the time: walk the talk, lead from the front, lead with integrity, and be authentic. They’re platitudes, but that doesn’t mean they’re not true. When I think about the leaders that have inspired …
Perspectives: Suzanne Wise, Network Rail
‘In the legal profession people don’t always let go quickly enough. That mentality can be destructive if it gets carried in-house,’ says Suzanne Wise, group general counsel (GC) and company secretary of Network Rail, the public body that owns and maintains the bulk of the UK’s railway infrastructure. For Wise, learning to let go is …
Perspectives: Peter Wexler, Schneider Electric
French energy management company Schneider Electric has been on a buying spree lately, most recently with its £3.4bn acquisition of Invensys, completed in 2014. These deals have seen the number of lawyers at the company rise to nearly 300, leading Peter Wexler, Schneider’s US-based group general counsel, to reflect on what it means to lead …
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