Life During Law: Marco Compagnoni

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I’m a forward-looking type of guy. Looking back on your career is something you do when you’re retiring. At the bright chickeny age of 50 it’s not the right time to be looking back. In a traditional English law firm, when you come to 50 there’s this unspoken thing of ‘when are you going to go?’ It’s sort of like granny sitting in the corner. In a US firm nobody thinks you know anything until you’re at least 50.

Management is not my thing. I’m more interested in the clients and doing the work. Triangulating complicated personalities and mucking about in committees is not my thing. Continue reading “Life During Law: Marco Compagnoni”

Life During Law: Maurice Allen

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In 1980 I went from doing conveyancing in Manchester to international finance at Coward Chance (CC). The banking practice at that time had around five partners and we were left to our own devices. I got to spend a lot of time with clients, one of which was Citibank, where I went on secondment in 1984 – there were no in-house teams at that time so I was the only lawyer there. At that time, Chase Manhattan Bank was one of Allen & Overy (A&O)’s key clients. I remember going back to my senior partner at CC and saying I thought we could get a lot of work from Chase, and I was told not to bother. But I gave it a go and, eventually, they became one of CC’s biggest clients.

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Profile: Rosemary Martin, Vodafone

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Continuous money saving has been the order of the day for Vodafone’s general counsel (GC) and company secretary Rosemary Martin, who has been under continued pressure to cut costs and headcount since becoming responsible for around 350 professionals in the telecom giant’s global legal team spread across 24 countries.

Vodafone, in common with other mobile phone operators and the telecoms sector at large, has faced strong headwinds, including tough economic conditions in Southern Europe, an adverse European regulatory environment and increased competition, leading to a dip in its 2012/13 revenue of 4.2%, albeit to well over £44bn.

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Profile: Michael Shaw, Barclays

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The banking giant’s deputy GC discusses management challenges

Barclays deputy general counsel (GC) Michael Shaw has proved himself to be highly adaptable since joining the bank in 2009 from legacy Herbert Smith.

It was in 2010 that the outside world witnessed the knock-on effect of Barclays Capital head Jonathan Hughes stepping down, after which Judith Shepherd moved into the role, leaving vacant her position as GC of retail and business banking (RBB). For seven months Shaw stood in as interim RBB GC before Mark Chapman was appointed in October 2010.

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Life During Law: Lord Goldsmith QC

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I’ve been really fortunate. I’ve had extraordinary opportunities in my career. I’ve had the opportunity not just as a hands-on lawyer, but also to do some politics, to take part in the affairs of the country… I’d like to think also that I’ve helped some people in a number of ways.

There have been a lot of memorable cases. The Afghan warlord we got convicted at the Old Bailey. I suppose Caparo in the House of Lords – a huge case on auditors’ negligence. That was a tremendous result – we happened to get the result on the day of my wedding anniversary. That was quite nice.

The favourite part of my job is being in court. It shouldn’t be but it is. I like being there, I like arguing, I like winning. It doesn’t always happen. I want to put on a good show, to do a good performance, and to solve the problem. I don’t like not solving legal problems.

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The Client: Philip Bramwell – BAE Systems

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Caroline Hill talks to the plain-speaking general counsel

When BAE Systems’ group general counsel (GC) Philip Bramwell started out as a lawyer in the pharmaceuticals industry, his mother approved on the basis that ‘everybody gets sick’. But as the assertive corporate veteran set out on the deliberate path to change industry every few years, she was less convinced by his switch from BT to O2 in 2001, observing that mobile phones were somewhere between a brick and a car battery and ‘no-one would be so rude as to walk around talking on them’.

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Life during law: Mark Rawlinson

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I was in the first ever gender-mixed year at my college in 1976. I got on very well with one particular girl and she was reading law and I developed an interest. I applied to Freshfields, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Lovell, White & King and Simmons & Simmons. I got five interviews and five offers in 1982 and chose Freshfields. In those days it was a lot easier to get a job.

Regrets? I would have loved to have gone off and done more mountain climbing, but that would have been very selfish as I had a family. Sport has always been a stress buster – I used to work closely with Anthony Salz, when he was co-senior partner at Freshfields, and I used to drive him mad because I’d hit the gym for an hour right in the middle of a deal, but it really helped to refresh me. But there was a tension between being a sportsman and a serious lawyer. But from early on, I wanted to be the best M&A lawyer. My three boys – Max, Tim and Nicky – are all sportsmen and it drives my wife mad as it is one hell of a competitive place at home.

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The Client: David McLeish – Playtech

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The former BLP partner on taking the GC seat at a fast-growing online gaming firm

When David McLeish left Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) to become general counsel (GC) of the world’s largest publicly-traded gaming software company, he figured it would present a new challenge. The FTSE 250-listed Playtech has certainly not disappointed. A fast-paced Israeli company with a pronounced work ethic, acquisitive mind-set and cash burning a hole in its pockets, the company is also operating in jurisdictions around the world where the licensing rules surrounding gambling are far from black and white.

McLeish left BLP in May 2012 to join Playtech, a client of four years, which was about to list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Describing his specialism at BLP as ‘corporate, gaming, hotels and leisure’, he says ‘the opportunity to become the GC of a FTSE 250 company was too good to turn down’. Like many private practice lawyers who have worked for a client for many years, he was also attracted to the idea of seeing deals through to the end and being part of a business.

Two months after his arrival, then AIM-listed Playtech – which provides branded software for online casinos, poker rooms, bingo games and sports betting for the likes of bet365, William Hill and Ladbrokes – floated with a market capitalisation of around £1bn. That figure is now £2bn and the company’s revenue has risen from €111.5m in 2008 to €317.6m in 2012.

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PROFILE: Kirsty Cooper and Monica Risam – Aviva

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Legal Business meets Aviva’s senior lawyers as they discuss the effects of a major restructuring.

For those lawyers comfortable with the status quo within Aviva’s legal team, it has been a turbulent 18 months.

The FTSE 100 insurance giant has been plagued since the start of the financial crisis by poor financial performance, disparate businesses across the globe, and lower capital reserves than its competitors. Shareholders had lost confidence in former chief executive Andrew Moss, which is why Aviva is now run by the man credited with turning round the fortunes of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

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PROFILE: Tom Kilroy – Misys

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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.

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