Allen & Overy (A&O) has won a place on Aviva’s top corporate panel after a lengthy review that saw Clifford Chance (CC) lose its spot as plc adviser.
The move comes as Aviva also kick-started its UK and Europe panel selection process in mid-April, following an overhaul of its 280-staff global legal team.
The review of the plc panel was led by general counsel (GC) and company secretary Kirsty Cooper and Aviva Group GC Monica Risam (pictured).
As infrastructure giant Balfour Beatty signs up Pinsent Masons as its sole legal adviser for general matters, Legal Business asks why the trend for single-supplier deals hasn’t really taken off yet.
The single-supplier legal advisory model pioneered by Tyco International has resurfaced yet again. In April, infrastructure giant Balfour Beatty announced a radical overhaul of its panel arrangements, selecting Pinsent Masons as its sole adviser for all its ‘business as usual’ legal work. The three-year contract with Pinsents, which was agreed for an undisclosed amount, will cover all repetitive and predictable legal work that the firm faces on a daily basis.
Continue reading “Three steps forward… will Tyco-style deals ever sweep the market?”
BHP Billiton senior executive David Williamson is set to rejoin Ashurst in Australia, where he was a lawyer at legacy firm Blake Dawson for 28 years. It is understood that he will return in June as a partner after spending three years at the mining giant.
Williamson joined the company as head of group legal in 2010 and for almost the last two years also served as chief compliance officer.
Continue reading “BHP Billiton swaps Ashurst for Herbert Smith Freehills with new legal chief”
With Barclays’ GC Mark Harding recently announcing his retirement, the search is on to replace one of the biggest jobs in City law. Legal Business assesses the much-changed role of bank legal heads in the post-Lehman world
When news broke in February that Mark Harding, general counsel (GC) for Barclays, was resigning after ten years in the top post, it sent ripples through the City profession. In replacing arguably the most high-profile GC in the country, the market is divided over whether Barclays should recruit internally or from private practice. The professional world that Harding has dominated for so long has changed almost beyond recognition. In filling those shoes, Barclays will be looking for much more than a leading corporate lawyer.
The software firm’s legal head shares his unique viewpoint after a temporary stint as chief executive.
Tom Kilroy stands out in several notable regards from the ranks of prominent general counsel (GC). For one, the down-to-earth legal head of software firm Misys is one of a very select band of senior in-house counsel who have turned to social media as a means of communicating with peers.
As such, his ‘GC’s Eye View’ blog has built a considerable audience on the back of witty pieces on the realities of legal practice and the management of an in-house team, though work pressures have meant that in recent months Kilroy has turned more to commenting on the legal industry via Twitter, where he has amassed well over 2,000 followers.
BT and Carillion have separately extended their legal arms recently to offer more external legal services.
BT Law launched in early March after the telecoms giant received an alternative business structure (ABS) licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). BT Law will provide services to customers in the motor claims market and will expand into other areas such as employment law and public liability.
Continue reading “BT and Carillion to expand external legal services”
If there was any remaining doubt that the lot of the modern general counsel at a major bluechip is a challenging but increasingly well rewarded role, news last month of a controversial bonus round at Barclays should put that to rest.
The bank announced on 20 March that it was awarding nine executives a total of £40.2m in shares, with outgoing group general counsel Mark Harding receiving shares worth over £3.7m.
Continue reading “Barclays law chief gets £3.7m share award”
Barclays, one of the UK’s largest banks, has started its hunt for a new general counsel (GC) following the retirement of Mark Harding.
Harding’s decision to step down was announced in early February and comes after ten years at the bank. In a statement, the bank’s chief executive Antony Jenkins said that the rationale behind the move was ‘grounded in wanting to do what is best for the bank’.
Barclays is now looking for someone to replace Harding and to head up its group in-house department, which has over 200 lawyers. Because of the seniority of the role, Barclays said the process could take a considerable amount of time, however speculation is already rising over where the bank will find its next recruit. Continue reading “Barclays begins search for new general counsel”
Oxymoronic as it sounds, news that Barclays general counsel (GC) Mark Harding is to depart has been received as startling and yet not entirely a surprise. Barclays had been engulfed in a series of escalating controversies in recent years spanning mis-selling, tax advice, and – most damagingly – allegations of rigging institutional interest rates. While there has been no suggestion that Harding or Barclays’ legal team shoulders any blame, incoming chief executive Antony Jenkins has gone out of his way to signal a total break with the culture under predecessor Bob Diamond, who last year stood down as the Libor investigation generated a record fine against the bank.
Continue reading “Rising clout means a new kind of corporate politics for GCs”
Increasingly I realise just how easy some of us in private practice have it compared to general counsel (GC) and in-house lawyers.
Law firms and their lawyers are inclined to be change resistant. Professional experience has conditioned them to be sensitised to the potential downsides arising from a course of action in preference to embracing the likely upsides. And even when they do accept that change is inevitable, often it’s a painfully slow process to effect – it’s hard enough to halt the progress of a supertanker, let alone change its course.
