BT
Dan Fitz joined BT as group general counsel in 2010 and is described as ‘at the forefront of developments in the international markets for communications and media services’. He arrived at BT just after the company had gone through some tough times, including shedding 20% of its workforce in 2008 and 2009.
Manchester United Football Club
Patrick Stewart has presided over some big changes since he took over as director of legal at Manchester United Football Club, as the club has continued to become a global phenomenon: in the last 12 months alone, MUFC has opened an office in Hong Kong and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Dyson
In his 14 years at Dyson, Martin Bowen has seen his legal department grow significantly. He now runs a team of 40 staff and has recently hired five new lawyers, including two commercial lawyers in the UK and one in Singapore.
Intel
Intel has 300 lawyers worldwide and 41 in Europe. In the labour law division that Richard Devereux runs, there are six staff.
BSkyB
Unsurprisingly, regulatory affairs are crucial for James Conyers’ 17-strong team at BSkyB, including dealing with Ofcom. Competition disputes with other UK broadcasters have been a key feature of the last ten years as well.
ITV
When Andrew Garard arrived at ITV, he immediately set about clearing out the television company’s long list of external legal advisers, sweeping away 36 of the 45 firms. He has spent considerable time choosing high-calibre individuals who are ‘fun and challenging’. The company uses external counsel for M&A, litigation, property, HR, IP and IT and Treasury issues.
Rugby Football Union
‘The ultimate part of my job is arriving at the stadium on an international match day,’ says Karena Vleck, who joined the RFU eight years ago and loves running her team of four.
Siemens
Claire Carless has only been at Siemens for a short time, joining the company in January 2012 and taking the role of GC for North West Europe as well as the UK role last summer. She has a sizeable legal team of 35 lawyers and a compliance team of six, spread across various parts of England. One of her first tasks was to review the legal panel.
Channel 5
Marcus Lee says that the pull of working in the broadcast industry is ‘that it is always evolving – no two days are the same’. However, he adds that its constantly fluctuating nature means it is also an incredibly competitive industry, in terms of acquiring the best content, keeping up with a large variety of platforms and looking at innovative revenue streams while keeping traditional advertisers happy.
Aegis Group
Simon Zinger leads a global legal team of 25 internal lawyers at Aegis Group. This is part of the reason he enjoys his job: he relishes the ability to work and manage a team in an international setting, which is a challenge as the company has to follow the same set of values and objectives across a variety of different cultures.
