Humphrey Tomlinson
General Counsel and company secretary
Direct Line Insurance Group, RBS Insurance
With 20 years’ experience advising on legal risk management, corporate governance and commercial issues, and noted for his ‘calm good sense and his tremendous judgement’, Humphrey Tomlinson knows his stuff. He heads a legal team of 40 and a company secretariat team of about six at Direct Line.
One of his biggest recent achievements was leading the company through its first IPO, launched by its shareholder The Royal Bank of Scotland as one of the conditions of its £45.5bn bailout by the government. He helped the group separate from RBS.
Subsequently, legal spend in 2012 was atypically high. Direct Line selected Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May for its corporate work and used PwC Legal for additional company advice during the IPO process. Previously, the group has used Pinsent Masons for commercial and Clyde & Co for insurance advice.
Law firms used: Addleshaw Goddard, Allen & Overy, Clyde & Co, Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose, Pinsent Masons, PwC Legal, RPC, Slaughter and May, Travers Smith
2011-present: General counsel & company secretary, Direct Line Group, RBS Insurance
1997-2011: Group legal director, RSA Insurance Group