State of play – In-house tech perspectives

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State of play – In-house tech perspectives

Between the reams of paper (literal and virtual) spent discussing how technology will affect the legal profession and the thousands of legal tech companies springing up around the world, technology is on the minds of in-house teams of all sizes and sectors.

But often what is not communicated is how in-house counsel feel about the technological revolution hitting their profession, and how their teams and businesses have responded, if at all. Continue reading “State of play – In-house tech perspectives”

The Client Profile: Elizabeth Messud, Kingfisher

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The Client Profile: Elizabeth Messud, Kingfisher

Living at the home of an ancient babushka. Rubbing shoulders with bodyguards on share acquisition deals. Arranging licensing deals so that The Muppets characters can appear on ice cream wrappers in Russia. ‘It’s been a fascinating and varied 25 years of practice, made deeply rich by the experience of different people and their different ways,’ Kingfisher legal director Elizabeth Messud says. ‘There has been many a modest cliff hanger in all I have done.’

That career has taken Messud from Toronto to a collective farm in rural Russia, to Moscow, then to London, via stints in Spain, France and Switzerland. It has also seen her work for one of the biggest companies in the world, Nestlé, as well as the finance arm of the World Bank, a Russian oligarch and, now, FTSE 100 retailer Kingfisher. Continue reading “The Client Profile: Elizabeth Messud, Kingfisher”

‘An incredible opportunity’: DWF flexes New Law arm with BT managed services contract

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‘An incredible opportunity’: DWF flexes New Law arm with BT managed services contract

DWF has landed its first major post-IPO client win after securing a five-year managed legal services mandate for BT’s insurance and real estate work.

Up to 40 lawyers from BT’s in-house legal team of nearly 400 staff could transfer from BT to DWF by the end of this year as part of the deal, which saw DWF chosen ahead of 25 other providers following a year-long process. Continue reading “‘An incredible opportunity’: DWF flexes New Law arm with BT managed services contract”

NRF hires the mind behind Barclays radical panel shake-up to launch legal ops consulting arm

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NRF hires the mind behind Barclays radical panel shake-up to launch legal ops consulting arm

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) is making an ‘offensive move’ against the Big Four on legal operations consulting with the hire of the well-regarded former Barclays’ head of external engagement, Stéphanie Hamon (pictured).

The firm announced today (9 July) that Hamon, who quit the bank earlier this year, will join as a fee-earner in August to head the new practice and help ‘in-house departments function like a business’. Continue reading “NRF hires the mind behind Barclays radical panel shake-up to launch legal ops consulting arm”

In-house: Severn Trent open to extending panel beyond Eversheds’ sole-adviser role

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In-house: Severn Trent open to extending panel beyond Eversheds’ sole-adviser role

Severn Trent group general counsel (GC) Bronagh Kennedy (pictured) is keeping an open mind as to how many firms will be appointed to its £8m legal panel, with Eversheds Sutherland currently the company’s sole adviser.

The FTSE 100 water company has opened a tender process for the legal panel it last reviewed in 2015, when Eversheds extended the sole-adviser mandate it has held since 2010. The existing panel covers five lots but the new panel will be divided into three, covering all the companies in the Severn Trent Group. Continue reading “In-house: Severn Trent open to extending panel beyond Eversheds’ sole-adviser role”

In-house: Rio Tinto GC to retire as Transferwise and ASOS legal heads depart

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In-house: Rio Tinto GC to retire as Transferwise and ASOS legal heads depart

Multiple general counsel (GCs) have stepped down from their posts this week, including the legal heads of FTSE 100 mining company Rio Tinto, fintech company Transferwise and online retailer ASOS.

Rio Tinto said on Monday (1 July) Philip Richards will retire as group GC of the global mining giant at the end of December after two years in the role. He will be replaced by Barbara Levi, who is group legal head of M&A and strategic transactions at Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, from 1 January 2020. Continue reading “In-house: Rio Tinto GC to retire as Transferwise and ASOS legal heads depart”

Time for a change: well-regarded BAML European legal chief departs for EY

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Time for a change: well-regarded BAML European legal chief departs for EY

The long-serving EMEA general counsel (GC) at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) has stepped down after 14 years to join Big Four accounting firm EY.

Sajid Hussein, a GC Powerlist regular, will join EY as a partner and GC for Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa (EMEIA) from 1 July. Continue reading “Time for a change: well-regarded BAML European legal chief departs for EY”

The Big Four meets GCs – The hard sell

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The Big Four meets GCs – The hard sell

‘I have never instructed a Big Four firm on a legal matter,’ says one UK general counsel (GC) of a large multinational. ‘The accountants’ legal offering is not something I’m close to,’ concedes Tesco GC Adrian Morris. The respective legal chiefs at The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group strike a similar note: ‘We don’t currently use any of them,’ says Michael Shaw, while Kate Cheetham notes: ‘Our use of these offerings is quite limited.’

Canvassing 20 GCs for this piece – including ten from the FTSE 100 – found only four had used the Big Four’s legal services. Continue reading “The Big Four meets GCs – The hard sell”

Three GC perspectives on change

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Three GC perspectives on change

Gloria Sánchez Soriano, head of transformation – legal department, Santander

When our group general counsel (GC), Óscar García Maceiras, joined two years ago, he came with the idea of transforming the legal department. But Santander as a business is also in a huge process of transformation. Maceiras had a concern that we in our legal department in the market – and in many other legal departments – were working the same way as 100 years ago. We have legal databases, word processing, some digital resources – but we were not doing anything special. So the project he envisioned was not only to implement a range of technologies, but to foster a savvier legal department, with fewer pain points and better co-ordination and efficiency. Continue reading “Three GC perspectives on change”