No more firsts – Reflections of the first female counsel to the White House

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No more firsts – Reflections of the first female counsel to the White House

There can be few legal roles in the US of as much significance and substance as White House counsel. And when Beth Nolan jettisoned film school for law school, she had no idea her eventual career, including serving as White House counsel for President Bill Clinton – the first female to take on the role – would be almost the stuff films are made of.

But the path to what could be termed the ultimate general counsel (GC) role was not an obvious progression for Nolan. Eschewing private practice thanks to an interest in administrative law, she found herself as a junior attorney with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), tasked with working on government ethics. Continue reading “No more firsts – Reflections of the first female counsel to the White House”

The medium is the message – GC strategies for riding the media revolution

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The medium is the message – GC strategies for riding the media revolution

Since the advent of the printing press in 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg’s invention for the first time allowed information to be disseminated at scale, mass communication has been an instrumental tool for human progress. The printing press laid the foundations for the plethora of media we see today, but modern media and communications are in the midst of another seismic shift.

As printed materials give way to digital distribution, traditional forms of broadcast media are facing profound upheaval – with the dominance of ‘linear’ television and radio being challenged by new streaming services. Continue reading “The medium is the message – GC strategies for riding the media revolution”

The Client Profile: Hugh Pugsley, HSBC

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The Client Profile: Hugh Pugsley, HSBC

‘Before university I spent a year working in India in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, teaching English and maths,’ Hugh Pugsley, general counsel (GC) for HSBC’s UK banking and insurance businesses, casually slips in at the end of the interview.

Although his days of reading the complete works of Hector Hugh Munro (‘Saki’) to indulge his love of travel books are behind him, he admits: ‘I still love being transported into another world’. Continue reading “The Client Profile: Hugh Pugsley, HSBC”