Alexandra Moon
Emerging Markets General Counsel, RSA
Having trained at Allen & Overy, Moon was a corporate associate with the Magic Circle firm until 2004, when she moved to Travers Smith, working on M&A, general corporate and private equity transactions, until she joined RSA in 2007.
Moon started out at RSA as legal counsel but has quickly moved up the ranks, becoming legal, risk and compliance director for Central and Eastern Europe in 2010, before being promoted in June 2011 to general counsel for the emerging markets division, leading a team of over 60 legal and compliance staff across 21 countries in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
According to one private practice lawyer Moon ‘is very clear in her instructions and matter-of-fact, so she is very easy to work with, and gets to the nub of the issue and moves forward.’
Group Legal Counsel, Towergate Insurance
Kelly joined Towergate Insurance as group legal counsel in November 2010, having started her career at DAC Beachcroft before working in-house at a number of companies in the City, including Aon Claims Solutions and Lockton.
A commercial litigator with experience in all areas of insurance law, commercial law and regulation, Kelly’s recent career highlights include managing a case up to the Court of Appeal in 2012 (Halstead v Paymentshield Group Holdings).
Kelly is regularly involved in commercial operations, projects and general risk management and has a noted ability to take robust decisions on the basis of relevant legal principles, as well as managing sometimes competing commercial imperatives.
Other notable career achievements include successfully handling a sensitive internal regulatory issue and advising the Towergate board on a range of high level matters.
Those in the business who are involved in litigation know that they have her whole-hearted support, and can rely completely on her. One observer claims: ‘Members of her team respect her and look to her for guidance, and she quickly forges effective relationships with external solicitors and counsel, who trust her judgement.
‘In short, Kelly is a highly commercial litigator with good legal knowledge and an unusually honed ability to inspire confidence in those working with her and for her.’
Head of M&A Capital Markets, COE, Aviva
Slaughter and May-trained, Harrison has been in-house for three years and in that relatively short space of time has become a trusted adviser to various business departments within the Aviva group, such as the M&A strategy team.
He has played a significant role in a number of highly contentious matters, as well as business-critical strategic deals, such as Aviva’s $2.6bn (£1.7bn)high-profile sale of its US business to Athene Holding in October 2013.
Harrison was also involved in the sale of Aviva’s roadside rescue business RAC to private equity group Carlyle for £1bn and is perceived internally to have provided invaluable support on technical corporate matters within the group.
One insider says: ‘Neil is good at reducing complex scenarios to simple choices, so it’s about being able to stand back when there’s a morass of information and lots of difficult issues in front of you, and be able to summarise that down into some very simple decisions that have to be made.
‘He has terrific insight, judgement and dedication; he’s very measured in knowing which issues to care about and which issues to relent on; and very creative.’
Tom Clarkson
In-House Solicitor, Prudential
Before joining Prudential in May 2012, Clarkson had been offered partnership at Herbert Smith, where he worked under leading financial services regulatory partner Martyn Hopper, who is now at Linklaters.
Clarkson, who was admitted as a solicitor in 2002, has made a huge impact on the regulatory side of Prudential’s business, enabling the group to provide head office with excellent sector-specific knowledge.
Working closely with compliance, one insider says: ‘He has given excellent advice to the board and the business as a whole.’
Head of Corporate Legal, QBE European Operations
Described as ‘brilliant’, ‘superb’, and ‘one of the most unflappable, laid-back characters you’ll ever meet’, M&A lawyer Hamer leads on the vast majority of QBE’s transactions.
Always happy to take on a new challenge, even where he is given little background, Hamer is very comfortable with new territory and takes responsibility for his actions.
Tasked with driving QBE’s panel process and revision, Hamer is described as someone who is ‘very focused on relationships and takes lots of time to figure out what makes people tick’.
One commentator adds: ‘The stuff he’s been given responsibility for at the transactional level has been huge, and the general counsel at QBE speaks incredibly highly of him.’
Natasha Mora
Head of Legal (Corporate and Commercial), Legal & General
Mora is so highly regarded at Legal & General that her presence is required at any of its significant commercial business discussions, often before any other lawyers have become involved in the process.
One insider says: ‘If we are doing something on the commercial side, Natasha is the first name on the term sheet next to the CEO. It’s not a legal matter and is being discussed purely business to business, and there are no other lawyers requested to be present, but she is down as the second-most necessary person at the meeting.’
Mora runs the commercial team and looks after Legal & General’s governance and company secretary function. She is praised for a ‘phenomenal’ work rate and the ability to provide support both at a high strategic level as well as undertaking practical and logistical tasks, such as putting together business papers and presentations.
The insider comments: ‘She is like a machine in her ability to deal with ‘stuff’ – not just legal work, but general stuff. She is utterly reliable, hardworking, responsive and good at time-keeping. She never accepts things at their face value and will always question.’
Nichola Davis-Pipe
Head of Legal, Claims, Dispute Resolution and Risk, Direct Line
Davis-Pipe joined Direct Line in June 2008 and has worked her way up the ranks from legal counsel, to litigation counsel in October 2012, followed by a promotion in October 2013 to her current position.
With Direct Line in the process of extracting itself from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group following its float in 2012, Davis-Pipe has worked relentlessly and in challenging circumstances to cover her huge portfolio of claims, dispute resolution and risk, as well as manage a number of other key projects.
Instrumental in helping Direct Line set up its own legal arm, she is described as ‘a very impressive individual’.
An IP partner at a leading City firm adds: ‘She’s an absolute pleasure to work with. She has a really nice style. She’s involved when she has to be and she manages her team and her external advisers really well.’
Head of Group Legal, Group Corporate Centre, RSA
Linklaters-trained Heiss joined RSA as legal counsel in February 2010 and was rapidly promoted to her current position of head of group legal by September 2011.
She has been selected for RSA’s internal talent management programme and is very much a core member of the group corporate centre.
One Magic Circle corporate partner comments: ‘Charlotte is a great manager of people and looks after her team very well, while at the same time managing a considerable workload and range of responsibilities. She has a very mature and well-balanced approach to getting the best out of her panel firms as well.’
Kim Bromley
Group Legal Counsel, Prudential
Another entry from insurance giant Prudential, Bromley is one of the youngest of the Rising Stars. Having qualified as a corporate insurance associate with legacy Norton Rose, she went on secondment to RSA and, according to one insider at Prudential, ‘worked very hard to develop and learn the insurance sector’.
In 2008, Bromley joined RSA’s legal counsel group corporate centre, eventually working for former Norton Rose insurance partner Derek Walsh, who joined RSA as group general counsel in 2010.
While at RSA, Bromley spent time as the sole counsel in its Irish business and working in the group regulatory risk and compliance team before joining Prudential in 2012. One insider at Prudential says: ‘Derek was very impressed and very sad to lose her.’
Since moving in-house, Bromley has broadened her corporate and commercial experience, advising on corporate governance matters, various listing rules matters, distribution agreements, M&A, large commercial contracts, corporate restructurings, global reinsurance programmes, Solvency II, data protection matters and TUPE issues.
At Prudential she has been heavily involved in the insurer’s December 2013 acquisition of a majority stake in Ghana’s Express Life Insurance Company, marking its entry into the African life insurance market.
One senior lawyer at Prudential comments: ‘Right from the start the business has looked to Kim for advice and counsel.’