David Hannon
Head of Legal, United Utilities
Although still in his thirties, Hannon heads the legal team of major FTSE 100 company United Utilities, reporting directly to general counsel and company secretary Simon Gardiner.
Having started his legal career at Hill Dickinson in 1998, Hannon moved to Eversheds in 2001 followed by his first move in-house as senior solicitor at Vertex Data Science in 2006.
Hannon joined United Utilities in 2007 and when Gardiner was promoted to GC in 2011 after Tom Keevil left to join Barratt Homes, he took on his current role. One partner at a top-20 UK law firm recalls: ‘Despite his age, David was the obvious choice for the role – and United Utilities rightly gave it to him.’
He has been heavily involved in or led on some major deals for the company, such as its restructuring (including the £1.8bn sale of its electricity business), and its £1bn-plus AMP5 (Asset Management Plan) programme.
Hannon is now overseeing United Utilities’ AMP6 programme – and is bringing on more junior lawyers in the process. Alongside this transactional responsibility, he continues to play a pivotal role in the company’s corporate affairs, its regulatory submissions and its various policies and procedures – including issues around the impending introduction of retail competition.
The top-20 UK law firm partner adds: ‘David has one of the most important attributes of any in-house lawyer: unfailing loyalty to his company. The United Utilities brand runs through his veins – and he works tirelessly to ensure that he provides the business with the best possible service. Similarly, he takes the time to look after his team – even down to helping them in buying their own properties!’
Lilia Alexander
Senior Legal Counsel, GE Oil & Gas Subsea Systems
Alexander provides legal support and advice to the global GE Oil & Gas Subsea Systems business across all aspects of its operations, particularly in energy, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. Having trained as a barrister and lawyer in Australia, Alexander worked as an associate to the Supreme Court judge, Justice Prior.
Her move to Australian firm Johnson Winter & Slattery first introduced her to energy law. She then moved to national firm Thomson Playford, where she was made up to partner and juggled a practice in energy (oil, gas and renewables) with a side interest in wine law, ‘for fun’. At the end of 2005, she was approached by Nasdaq-listed Vestas Wind Systems, the largest wind turbine manufacturer and plant solutions provider in the world, and became its first GC and head of risk & insurance in the Pacific region. Soon upon starting, Alexander’s role was expanded to include responsibility for emerging markets, including in Africa and Asia.
In 2008 she was invited to move to the company’s headquarters in Denmark, with a view to reviewing the company’s global contracting matrix and rolling it out to the business worldwide. She then worked for five years as vice president and head of legal and risk in Vestas’ group treasury, with responsibility for legal support and risk management pertaining to the company’s M&A activities worldwide, the review of all key projects and transactions, as well as numerous strategic initiatives to counter the fall out of the global financial crisis on the company and its clients at the time. In that role, she advised on and negotiated transactional documentation for more than €3.3bn of financing in debt, equity and capital markets.
In her role in GE Oil & Gas, Alexander’s experience extends to providing support to the subsea business across the board, with particular focus on excellence in EPC project execution. One market commentator says: ‘She is quite simply a very impressive lady. She has total control of all her matters. She is charming, appreciative, and she knows exactly how to get you to do the things that she precisely wants.’
Senior Counsel, Global Treasury, BP
‘Hard-working, intelligent and pragmatic’ – Renwick received multiple recommendations and was heavily involved in BP’s recent $17.1bn sale of its 50% stake in TNK-BP to Russia’s Rosneft in return for cash and shares.
Herbert Smith-trained, Renwick joined BP as legal adviser in 2008 and was promoted to senior counsel in the global treasury team in October 2013. BP’s treasury team moves around $1trn every year, acting as the company’s in-house global bank.
Among the many comments received in support of his inclusion, one says: ‘James focuses on what’s important rather than taking an overly legalistic approach – he thinks about his client and what the client wants, rather than just throwing up potential legal impediments. And he’s a decent and humane individual with all that.’
Another adds: ‘Measured, commercial and extremely clever. He can manage a huge workload and his intellect is such that he can cover a wide range of areas almost effortlessly.’
Katy Wells
Head of Legal, Covanta Energy
Described as a ‘highly versatile and commercial lawyer, trusted adviser to colleagues and thoroughly integrated into project teams’, Pinsent Masons-trained Wells qualified in 2002 as a commercial property solicitor and joined Covanta Energy in 2010 to take over responsibility for its UK property portfolio.
A significant recent career achievement was leading a team of lawyers in successfully obtaining an injunction against Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, preventing the public body from entering into a contract with a rival bidder.
As one lawyer who has worked alongside Wells recently commented: ‘Katy is a wonderful person to work with, widely liked and respected for her practical, solution-based approach to legal matters. Her recent (and highly unusual) success in obtaining an injunction against Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority is a particular example.’
Senior Legal Counsel, Ithaca Energy
Seven-year qualified Corley has a private practice background, having sharpened her skills at McGrigors but since joining Ithaca in March 2011 has immersed herself in the business of the company, from complex joint ventures to offshore development contractual arrangements.
She has played an integral role in a series of M&A deals, including Ithaca’s £200m-plus multijurisdictional acquisition of Valiant Petroleum in April 2013; its acquisition of Cook E&P in October 2012; and of Challenger Minerals (North Sea) in October 2011, as well as overseeing the legal aspects of the finance arrangements for a number of other deals.
One partner at a top-20 UK law firm says of Corley, who graduated with a law degree from Aberdeen University in 2005, ‘She applies her formidable technical legal ability to develop real-life pragmatic solutions’.
They add: ‘Vicky’s dedication to advancing the business of the company is incredible. She is tenacious and commercially oriented. She eats, sleeps and breathes Ithaca.’
Senior Legal Counsel, Eni
Admitted as a solicitor in the UK in 2007, Trevelyan is senior legal counsel at multinational oil and gas company Eni, which has 78,000 staff across 90 countries.
Trevelyan has been heavily involved in Eni’s Kashagan oil project, which has seen one of the largest oil fields discovered in the last 40 years give rise to one of the most complex industrial projects worldwide.
Last year the first oil from the field, based in the North Caspian Sea, was produced, and one supporter of Trevelyan said of his contribution: ‘His work on the Kashagan oil project has been excellent,’ adding: ‘He is super-intelligent, personable and down to earth.’
Edyth Kyegombe
Antitrust Counsel, Shell International
Kyegombe has been an antitrust lawyer at Shell for over three years, where the energy giant has a team of over 1,000 lawyers and support staff and has had a dedicated antitrust team for over 20 years.
The former Baker & McKenzie lawyer is described internally as ‘an absolutely outstanding antitrust lawyer who has consistently delivered remarkable results’.
Colleagues and external lawyers note her standout qualities are her analytical skills and quiet efficiency, combined with a personable and friendly demeanour that encourages clients and colleagues alike to rely on her for advice and support. She is also known to be extremely hard working and very responsive, with an ability to undertake a heavy workload quickly and efficiently.
Recent professional achievements include leading a team that in 2012 obtained conditional antitrust approval for the acquisition by Shell of 253 retail petrol stations (under the Total brand) from Rontec Investments. The Office of Fair Trading’s approval was obtained after many months of informal and formal discussions, with Kyegombe winning credit for the energetic and dedicated way in which she managed and argued the case, including marshalling the arguments and gathering evidence.
As a result of her work on this complex and challenging project, Kyegombe received the Shell Downstream Director’s Award for Excellence.
Kyegombe is aware of the need to make time for cross-legal projects to improve Shell’s legal team as a whole, which includes her work on the revamping of Shell’s antitrust compliance programme, working collaboratively with the Shell compliance office, human resources and various other business functions.
Senior Solicitor, Sellafield
More formally known as Melehah, Nawaz has been employed by Sellafield since 2007 and is responsible for employment issues concerning its 10,000 workforce, which she does with aplomb despite having a background as a commercial litigator.
Career achievements include a key role in a case where Sellafield became the first employer to successfully defend a multimillion-pound collective bargaining inducement claim brought by two trade unions.
She is described by one partner at a top-ten UK and international firm as ‘tenacious, articulate and with a great ability to work with the business to achieve its commercial objectives while managing any associated legal risks with practical, innovative solutions’. Nawaz also played an integral role alongside lawyers and senior business leaders in the high-profile Redfern inquiry into the retention and examination of body parts of workers in the UK nuclear industry dating back to the 1950s.
She is also responsible for overseeing a programme of staff reorganisation in which all employee settlement agreements have been signed off by one external law firm, with one private practice partner commenting: ‘This has saved Sellafield in excess of £325,000 and ensured that employees were able to receive their money more quickly.’
The partner adds: ‘Mia works in a seamless fashion with the business, handling politically and publicly sensitive issues which attract a high level of media attention. She has the respect of senior business leaders as well as having the ability to communicate with colleagues at all levels of a business structure which is an esoteric, highly unionised organisation.’
Associate General Counsel, GE Oil & Gas Subsea Systems
Anderson graduated from Aberdeen University in 1999 and before joining GE undertook a series of private practice and in-house positions, including four years in DLA Piper’s London projects team and as a McGrigors partner between 2008 and 2011, advising on upstream and downstream issues across the oil and gas industry.
He joined GE as associate general counsel in November 2011, advising and supporting the business on all aspects of the company’s operations in over 40 countries.
One senior staffer at GE comments: ‘I think very highly of him; he is very competent. He joined the company in the last couple of years and is well liked in oil and gas – a sensible proactive team player, and a good guy.’
Sarah Massey
Senior Group Counsel, Johnson Controls
Former Addleshaw Goddard-lawyer Massey is responsible for Johnson Controls’ commercial contract and legal issues, spanning 28 countries, working with a three-lawyer team.
Comfortable negotiating contracts worth anywhere between £500m and £1bn with the likes of Barclays, BP or Deutsche Bank, Massey and her team do most of their legal work in-house. She has also played a key part in the company’s internal restructuring, which led to material cost savings.
One private practice partner at a top-50 UK firm says of her skills: ‘From my experience, it’s a unique combination of being both a brilliant lawyer and a great commercial project manager, which is what you aim for in-house. The remit of her business is wide and diverse. She’s not a single subject matter expert.’
Senior Legal Adviser, National Grid
New Zealand-born Waller trained at Auckland firm Russell McVeagh, qualifying in 1998. She then moved to the City, starting on a six-month contract in Linklaters’ corporate team, but staying for five years, with stints in London and Amsterdam. She moved to National Grid in 2006 and sits in the global corporate legal team. The team’s primary focus is advising on M&A, capital markets and corporate finance work. She previously acted on the company’s £3.3bn rights issue in May 2010 as it geared up for a major period of investment and has more recently been working on a range of business development and treasury projects.
One market commentator says: ‘She combines an impressively broad legal and transactional knowledge with a strong focus on commercial issues, and to top it off she’s a really nice person to deal with.’
Ben Peters
Senior Legal Counsel, Competition and Compliance, Anglo American
‘Not all the top in-house lawyers are those negotiating the big deals and/or managing the big-ticket litigation – the competition and compliance specialists play an increasingly important and high-profile role’ – so says one transactional partner at a leading US firm of the work handled by Peters at De Beers-owned Anglo American.
SJ Berwin-trained Peters has shown himself to be resourceful and proactive by establishing and leading a cross-functional compliance working group, bringing together representatives from the legal, external affairs, risk and internal audit groups. Its aim is to ensure that De Beers has ‘adequate procedures’ in place for the purposes of the UK Bribery Act 2010 – a key compliance matter for a global mining firm.
Peters also played a major role as the legal team revised De Beers’ whistleblowing policy, creating a new whistleblowing response framework, and providing cross-company new, relevant, and accessible anti-bribery awareness training. Peters has also taken responsibility for De Beers’ data protection compliance.
The US-firm partner says: ‘Ben is not only a first-rate lawyer, but he is practical and focused on his firm’s needs – he is an excellent communicator and makes complex, awkward, unglamorous areas of the law relevant and comprehensible to the global company. He has a strategic mind and a proactive approach.’
Senior Legal Counsel and Head of Derivatives Legal Team, Gazprom Marketing & Trading
A specialist in carbon emissions trading, Cofré was promoted in November 2013 from senior legal counsel in Gazprom Marketing & Trading to head up its derivatives legal team.
Cofré, who is admitted to practise in England and Wales, New Zealand and Australia, is regarded as a versatile lawyer, specialising in energy transactions, environmental law and regulation, carbon finance and environmental markets, emissions trading and trade finance.
One observer comments: ‘Although he did not have prior experience in disputes, José was able to grasp the complexities and peculiarities of the arbitral process at an incredible speed. He has been instrumental in providing timely and comprehensive instructions on various issues arising during the arbitral proceeding, and has substantially contributed to the development of the case strategy.’
Simone Tudor
Head of Legal, Cofely UK
Tudor is head of legal for energy business services leader Cofely, an arm of GDF Suez, which she joined from Wragge & Co in 2010. Since arriving, she has led on significant deals including its December 2013 acquisition of Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, in which she dealt with all the legal completion requirements and the integration of the two businesses, a key strategic acquisition for parent company GDF Suez. The deal elevated Cofely to a company of 15,000 staff with annual revenues of £1bn.
One partner at a top-50 law firm says: ‘She epitomises being a commercial business lawyer. She has been responsible for significant pan-European outsourcing deals where she has worked with companies across Europe.’