Geoffrey Timms – Legal & General Group

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Geoffrey Timms

Group general counsel

Legal & General Group

 

Geoffrey Timms considers himself an unconventional manager of a highly qualified team. He hates bureaucracy and regimentation and above all, babysitting. He likes proactive individuals who strengthen relationships, work independently and exceed targets. This also applies to the external firms he uses. ‘I like working with lawyers who understand how we work and approach issues, who go the extra mile bearing in mind all risk factors,’ he says.

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Edward Davis – AXA UK

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Edward Davis

Group general counsel

AXA UK

 

Edward Davis has made his mark at AXA UK. He established the French insurer’s first global legal panel as part of its ‘Ambition 2012’ strategy launched back in 2004. This panel comprises 12 firms fighting over the £3m AXA spends on law firms every year.

Davis has grown his legal in-house team to 40 lawyers and manages the group legal department, group secretariat and the UK compliance team.

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Bill Mordan – Reckitt Benckiser

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Bill Mordan

Senior vice president and group general counsel

Reckitt Benckiser

 

Bill Mordan manages a team of 58 legal professionals in offices in 19 countries for the global company. In 2011 he received the Association of Corporate Counsel’s award for ‘Excellence in corporate practice’, with the ACC describing him as:‘an invaluable asset to Reckitt Benckiser, Bill has built a strong legal department, developing a departmental structure that not only ensures worldwide compliance, but does so at costs well below the industry norm.’

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Tatjana May – Shire Pharmaceuticals

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Tatjana May

General counsel, company secretary and executive vice president global legal affairs

Shire Pharmaceuticals

 

Tatjana May has been with Shire Pharmaceuticals, the UK’s third largest drugs group, since 2001, having spent the earlier part of her career in the prestigious surroundings of AstraZeneca, where she was assistant general counsel, and Slaughter and May. In 2008 she was also appointed chair of the corporate responsibility committee.

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Adam McArthur – AstraZeneca

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Adam McArthur

Senior counsel, strategic partnering and business development

AstraZeneca

 

Adam McArthur has ten years’ experience at two of the world’s most prominent pharmaceuticals companies:Novartis and now AstraZeneca. He is part of a 22-strong legal team responsible for global business development activities in respiratory, inflammation and ophthalmology.

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Deborah Prince – British Heart Foundation

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Deborah Prince

Head of legal affairs

British Heart Foundation

 

After 12 years’ experience of in-house roles at Tesco and Which?, Deborah Prince began work for the healthcare charity at the beginning of 2012 as its sole in-house lawyer. This is all a far cry from her early days as a neuroscientist at Imperial College where she spent seven years.

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Francesca Yeomans – Smith & Nephew

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Francesca Yeomans

European legal counsel

Smith & Nephew

 

During her time with the medical devices company, Francesca Yeomans has established a successfully functioning department after starting out as the company’s sole lawyer outside the US. She reports to the US global legal team, which comprises 16 lawyers, six paralegals and nine IP attorneys.

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Felix Ehrat – Novartis

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Felix Ehrat

Group general counsel

Novartis

 

In July last year Novartis unveiled an overhaul of its ‘Legal Preferred Program’, which involved reassessing its panel of law firms. Led by group general counsel Felix Ehrat – a former senior partner at one of Switzerland’s most prestigious firms – the panel comprises 25 firms divided into four groups – global firms, US country firms, US country specialist firms and US country specialist intellectual property firms.

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Catherine Dixon – NHS Litigation Authority

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Catherine Dixon

Chief executive

NHS Litigation Authority

 

Catherine Dixon, who joined the NHSLA in April 2012, is working closely with its panel of legal firms to ensure that value for money is delivered to the NHS. She will shortly be leading a legal panel tender to engage legal services for the NHSLA and other NHS bodies, which is due to complete on 1 April this year. ‘Procuring legal services is always a sophisticated purchase. It has to be the right price but it’s key that it’s the right quality,’ she says.

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Paul Newton – Bupa

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Paul Newton

Group legal director and general counsel

Bupa

 

Since joining Bupa in 1987, Paul Newton has progressed up the ranks to become the group’s legal director and has seen the legal team grow to 70 lawyers in 11 locations, with an annual legal spend of £6.6m. Given the group turns over £8bn, serves 11 million clients and employs 52,000 staff, the size of the team is relatively modest and Newton has an extensive panel of strong firms that he uses for M&A, litigation, regulatory insurance, media, employment and IP/IT.

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