Hutchison 3G UK
Steven Lerner sees his role as an innovator. ‘3 is not afraid of challenging the status quo or taking risks so we expect our external firms to think in a more creative and challenging way,’ he says.
Interoute
Having practised in-house for telecoms companies since 1995 Maurice Woolf has, according to one telecoms lawyer, ‘long been at the heart of the UK communications industry’.
Virgin
Robert Blok looks after the legal aspects of Virgin investments across a whole range of industry sectors and oversees the relationship between Virgin’s diverse businesses and the external law firms to make sure they use the best practice in every country.
Colt Group
Robin Saphra garnered plenty of attention last year after signing Baker & McKenzie as Colt Group’s principal adviser on a fixed annual contract worth £1m a year, cutting down his roster of external advisers from around 60 firms to just three. This has clearly reduced his legal spend, which currently stands at around €12m per year.
Everything Everywhere
James Blendis is used to high-profile work: he oversaw the game-changing merger between Orange and T-Mobile in 2010 and took part in the Leveson inquiry last year. ‘I was never a specialised telecoms guy – you have to learn on the job and technically you have to learn how the networks operate otherwise you’re not able to do your job properly,’ he says.
Manchester United Football Club
Patrick Stewart has presided over some big changes since he took over as director of legal at Manchester United Football Club, as the club has continued to become a global phenomenon: in the last 12 months alone, MUFC has opened an office in Hong Kong and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Continue reading “Patrick Stewart – Manchester United Football Club”
Dyson
In his 14 years at Dyson, Martin Bowen has seen his legal department grow significantly. He now runs a team of 40 staff and has recently hired five new lawyers, including two commercial lawyers in the UK and one in Singapore.
Intel
Intel has 300 lawyers worldwide and 41 in Europe. In the labour law division that Richard Devereux runs, there are six staff.
BSkyB
Unsurprisingly, regulatory affairs are crucial for James Conyers’ 17-strong team at BSkyB, including dealing with Ofcom. Competition disputes with other UK broadcasters have been a key feature of the last ten years as well.
Rugby Football Union
‘The ultimate part of my job is arriving at the stadium on an international match day,’ says Karena Vleck, who joined the RFU eight years ago and loves running her team of four.
