Sarah Wiggins > Linklaters LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Sarah Wiggins

020 7456 3252 sarah.wiggins@linklaters.com

Work Department

Corporate.

Position

Sarah is a board room adviser and regularly works on a wide range of corporate transactions often with a cross-border element and high profile crises and investigations. 

Sarah is the firm’s global head of clients and sectors, and her experience spans the oil and gas, chemicals, real estate, professional services, insurance and FMCG sectors.

Sarah leads on several key relationships with a number of the firm’s significant clients, including BP, Reckitt Benckiser and PwC. “I am a trusted adviser to company boardrooms, offering clients practical, business-focused advice that is strongly aligned with their commercial requirements and objectives.” For 16 months in 2015/16 Sarah acted as interim general counsel of Reckitt Benckiser. Sarah advised on a number of acquisitions, including RB’s acquisition of Hypermacas’ contraceptive business, the reorganisation of various interests of Manon in China and RB’s $17.9 billion acquisition of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (completed July 2017). Also, Sarah led a legal team of internal and external lawyers in relation to a number of business critical investigations – including the DoJ and FTC investigations and related proceedings (arising from certain matters relating to the RB Pharmaceuticals Business prior to its demerger in December 2014 from Indiviour PLC) and the high profile crisis management issue facing one of RB’s subsidiaries, Oxy RB (“Oxy RB”), in relation to deaths and injuries caused by a humidifier sanitiser which Oxy RB produced and sold in South Korea between 2001-2011. The matter involves substantial civil and criminal litigation in Korea. She has also advised, amongst other things, on (i) the development of a wide-ranging compensation plan designed to satisfy local requirements and United Nations guidance; (ii) engagement with the United Nations Special Rapporteur; (iii) engagement with a committee of the Korean National Assembly (the equivalent of a UK Parliament select committee) and associated engagement with the Korean law making process; and (iv) engagement with the UK-government and regulators. The matter exemplifies her ability to manage complex multi-jurisdictional, cross disciplinary matters affecting a FTSE100 company. The case is politically and publicly significant in Korea.

Sarah was seconded to BP’s head office for eight months in 2012/13, where she worked closely with the general counsel and deputy general counsel on a number of market-related and crisis management issues, including criminal settlement with the DoJ, as well as reinforcing her knowledge of the current key issues to consider for corporate energy transactions.

Sarah was listed as one of 2014’s star lawyers in The Lawyer’s annual Hot 100 list, and was profiled in The Law List by Powerful Media in 2015 and in 2017 was named an Acritas Star Law in a new global database of client nominated Star Lawyers.

Education

Manchester University (1987 BA History).