United Kingdom 2016
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
For the 2016 edition of GC Powerlist we return to the original format of the report – launched in 2013 – focusing on senior general counsel (GCs). Over that time, the report has expanded hugely to become one of the most important strands of Legalease’s portfolio. Expanding the report also reflects the reality that in understanding GCs, you need to look at the specifics. While law firms operate on a few variants of the same model, in-house teams are defined much more by the industry and the individual company in which they work.
But there are broad trends as well. The upward march of the in-house profession that this report was originally launched to chronicle has, if anything, accelerated. While law firms are struggling for growth in many sectors, in-house teams continue to expand in the UK and take on greater swathes of work. It’s becoming increasingly mainstream to encounter teams with multimillion-pound budgets that put only a tiny minority of their work to law firms. Where they are instructing outside counsel, a good proportion of GCs now barely bother to conceal their tactic of pushing law firms down the value chain… and their teams correspondingly upwards.
RPC’s managing partner on how the modern GC made law a part of business (and vice versa).
It was late 2012 when RPC first became involved with Legal Business’ GC Powerlist. Back then, over four years after Lehman Brothers collapsed, the world economy was still looking parlous.
Another four years on and, although we’re now certainly on a firmer footing economically, there are still plenty of reasons to be fearful, or at least cautious, over what the future might hold for businesses: the slowdown in China; the collapse in the price of oil; stock market woes, here and in Asia; and uncertainty surrounding Britain’s possible exit from Europe, to name just a few.
Jonathan Watmough
Managing Partner
RPC
As part of Legal 500’s GC Powerlist Week, Legal 500 partnered with Jones Day to host an exclusive Breakfast Seminar at the firm’s Singapore office, bringing together 40 of the region’s leading general counsel recognised in the 2025 Southeast Asia GC Powerlist.
The event provided an intimate setting for senior in-house counsel to share insights and best practices while exploring the complex and fast-evolving legal landscape surrounding data protection, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
The session, titled “Caught in the Acts”, was led by Dr. Undine von Diemar, Partner and Head of Jones Day’s European Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection Practice, and Elizabeth Cole, head of Cybersecurity for Jones Day in Southeast Asia. Together, they examined the implications of recent regulatory developments across Europe and Asia that are reshaping compliance strategies for companies operating in the region.
Undine opened with a deep dive into the EU Digital Agenda, offering clarity on the growing web of digital legislation that now governs data and technology use across Europe. She provided a detailed overview of the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive risk-based framework for regulating artificial intelligence, alongside the Data Act, NIS2 Directive, and Cyber Resilience Act — each of which introduces new obligations on data sharing, cybersecurity resilience, and operational accountability.
Elizabeth followed with a regional perspective on Asia’s data protection and AI landscape, highlighting the diversity of regulatory approaches across jurisdictions and the increasing pace of legislative change. She discussed key AI developments, including China’s evolving regulatory model and Singapore’s draft Digital Infrastructure Act and AI guidelines, as well as recent enforcement trends demonstrating that regulators in the region are becoming more assertive and coordinated in their oversight.
The event underscored Legal 500 and Jones Day’s commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue among the region’s most influential corporate counsel, providing an invaluable platform for collaboration, learning, and networking within the GC Powerlist community.
