Mark Harding
Group general counsel
Barclays
Few general counsel attract the levels of respect from fellow in-house lawyers that Mark Harding, group general counsel at Barclays, commands. He was the first chairman of the GC100, which elevated his profile among his in-house counterparts, and he remains active in the organisation. He firmly believes that the in-house community has a duty to work together to reform the relationship between the client and private practice firms.
‘Before I joined, Barclays had started down the route of having strong relationships between panel firms. That gives you the ability to drive commercial terms that benefit the business,’ he says. ‘If clients want things to change they need to take responsibility and over the last two to three years (and I don’t think it is a coincidence that this has coincided with the tough economic climate) we’ve had more opportunity to do that.’
In July 2011, Harding established a roster of nine legal panels to manage the bank’s relationships with external counsel. Those arrangements will last until June.
‘We’re keen to create incentives to get law firms to provide better services but it’s a process and we’ve not reached the end yet,’ says Harding. ‘However, we’re much more horses for courses now, we separate out the lower value and higher value work and we’re much more thoughtful about allocating that.’
Law firms used: Barclays has an extensive list of nine specific panels, including Addleshaw Goddard, Allen & Overy, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Clifford Chance, DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Shearman & Sterling, Simmons & Simmons, Sullivan & Cromwell
2003-present: Group general counsel, Barclays
2000-03: Finance partner, Clifford Chance
1996-2000: Global general counsel, UBS Warburg
1980-96: Solicitor, Clifford Chance