United Kingdom 2018: The Team Elite
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
| accenture
The in-house legal function at professional services giant Accenture prides itself on embracing innovation and emulating the wider company’s global structure. Bucking the trend of many in-house legal departments, its...
| AIG
The in-house legal team of mostly – unsurprisingly – insurance lawyers at AIG, spread across more than 40 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), sees itself as...
Senior legal advisor | Bupa
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW International healthcare company Bupa recently launched a digital innovation incubator called Blue Table, supported by Bupa Customer Lab. The initiative offers start-ups and small businesses...
Legal counsel | Skyscanner
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW The Skyscanner legal team has been a prominent supporter of local talent, running monthly drop-in clinics for companies affiliated with Edinburgh-basedtech incubator CodeBase .Building these...
| Associated British Foods
Ask Associated British Foods (ABF) director of legal services and company secretary Paul Lister why he thinks his inhouse legal team is well regarded, and he points to how visible...
| Aviva
The strength of leadership in the highly-regarded in-house team at FTSE 100 insurer Aviva is consistently praised, even as the team saw significant change over the last year. And it...
| BAE Systems
‘This is, you will be pleased to know, a very, very, heavily regulated industry,’ defence multinational BAE Systems group GC Philip Bramwell says. ‘We have, from the boardroom down, no...
| Balfour Beatty
It feels an age since global infrastructure group Balfour Beatty announced its seventh profit warning in a couple of years, had its chief executive quit and was in the midst...
| Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Ask any financial services institution’s in-house team to name their main challenge of recent years and many will point to what the team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML)...
| Barclays
Freeze the regulatory environment of today and Barclays group GC Bob Hoyt believes the 740-strong legal team would still have a lot of work to understand and safely operate the...
| British Airways
You do not have to be an aviation geek to join the lean British Airways (BA) in-house legal team, but head of legal and company secretary Andrew Fleming believes the...
| BT
Everyone has a view on BT, which veteran legal chief Chris Fowler believes has one of the most complicated stakeholder environments he has ever worked in. ‘You’ve got shareholders, customers,...
| Bupa
A recurring theme among leading in-house legal teams is the ability to not just provide technical legal advice, but to supplement it with business nous. This is the philosophy Penny...
| Canon Europe
The Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters of global imaging technologies and services business Canon covers operations in over 100 countries across the region. Led from the UK by senior...
General counsel - corporate and Legal & General Capital | Legal & General
One of the distinguishing features of the Legal & General in-house team, says group GC Geo rey Timms, is its close involvement in transactional work. Claire Singleton, who handles all...
| Coca-Cola
In mid-2016, Coca-Cola European Partners was established following the combination of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca- Cola Iberian Partners, and Coca- Cola Erfrischungsgetränke. The merger created the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler...
| Diageo
The in-house legal team at drinks multinational Diageo has a sprawling global mandate: the company’s 140 lawyers cover the 180 countries it does business in, all from 40 countries where...
| Dyson
In late 2017, Sir James Dyson announced his company would invest around £2.5bn to bring an electric car to market by 2020. Big numbers, but then Dyson spends several million...
| Engie
During 2015, international energy company ENGIE began an ambitious transformation programme to reorganise its business lines, which collectively generate €70bn in turnover and employ 150,000 people, into 24 new geographical...
| GSK Consumer Healthcare
In 2014, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis announced a major three-stage transaction that would see the UK-listed company swap its oncology business for the Swiss pharma giant’s vaccines division while entering...
| GVC Holdings
All bets have been off in the fast-changing and highlyregulated gaming and betting industry in recent years. It has seen everything from high-level consolidation between some of the industry’s biggest...
| HSBC
The UK government’s rules for the ring-fencing of retail and wholesale banking activities will require all UK banks with more than £25bn in deposits to set up a separate legal...
Deputy head of legal services | Land Securities Group
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW Thanks to a strong performance on one of Land Securities’ biggest mandates in 2017, Ian Petts is singled out as an outstanding figure in a...
Senior Counsel | Dialight
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW Jonathan Keen is senior counsel at Dialight, a FTSE-listed technology company specialising in electrical products. Before joining Dialight in 2017, Keen served as assistant GC...
Senior legal counsel | The Financial Times
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW Kendra James is senior counsel in The Financial Times (FT) legal team, where she advises on intellectual property, commercial transactions and brand strategy and manages...
| Land Securities Group
Land Securities Group GC Tim Ashby describes his comparatively-small in-house team as typical for the real estate sphere, but the magnitude of the work it completes is anything but ordinary....
| Legal & General Group
‘As GC I find it invaluable to have a strong legal team,’ says Legal & General’s Geoffrey Timms. ‘They enable me to stay employed without doing much work.’ Getting there...
| Lendlease
The real estate sector has not traditionally been home to large teams of in-house lawyers. As such, the eight-strong UKbased legal team at Australian construction, property and infrastructure group Lendlease...
| Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group GC Kate Cheetham is a frequently-cited name in the in-house community, and her legal team has received similar commendations after a strong year characterised by shrewd deals...
Deputy general counsel | Heathrow Airport
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW Last year, Mark Oliver was promoted to the role of deputy general counsel (GC) at Heathrow Airport, where he supports GC Carol Hui. A commercial...
| Marks and Spencer
Eminent retail brand Marks and Spencer (M&S) received multiple nominations this year after rising above some challenging scenarios, not least relating to the largestever legal collapse in the UK market....
| National Grid
The in-house legal team at National Grid has transformed itself over the last three years, spurred by the realisation it was providing services that were not needed following an in-depth...
General counsel, legal head of global categories and R&D | GSK Consumer Healthcare
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW Described as ‘a FTSE GC in the making’ by Allen & Overy partner Matthew Appleton, Neil Laventure heads legal for Europe, the Middle East and...
| Network Rail
Network Rail GC Stuart Kelly’s second stint at the UK railway infrastructure owner, and subsequent promotion to its top legal job in early 2017, has come with what he describes...
| Prudential
Life insurance giant Prudential GC Alan Porter oversaw serious expansion in 2017 as the company explored new markets. A key deal was the acquisition of a majority stake in Zenith...
| Reckitt Benckiser
Rupert Bondy surprised many when he left BP for Reckitt Benckiser (RB) at the end of 2016. A veteran of 26 years at the oil major, and one of the...
| Rolls-Royce
‘We’re not the “Department of No”; we’re not the “Deal Prevention Unit”; and we don’t sit in our ivory tower with the big book of law,’ says Rolls-Royce GC Mark...
| Royal Dutch Shell
For Donny Ching and his huge inhouse legal team, 2017 represented an extended period of integration following the mega-merger between Royal Dutch Shell and British oil and gas company BG...
| Royal Mail Group
Few in-house legal teams received as many nominations as the Royal Mail Group this year, with GC Maaike de Bie regularly cited by both private practice firms and other in-house...
| RSA
Charlotte Heiss, GC of insurance giant RSA, is no stranger to the GC Powerlist, having been named as a Rising Star in the 2014 edition. This year her legal team...
| Shire
Bill Mordan and the inhouse legal team at FTSE 100 pharmaceutical company Shire have – typically for the industry – been mainly occupied with patent litigation during 2017, but have...
| Sky
The legal team at communications giant Sky, led in the UK and Ireland by GC Vicky Sandry, prides itself on keeping the majority of its work in-house. The rationale is...
| Skyscanner
Travel metasearch engine Skyscanner’s credentials as one of the UK’s most successful tech start-ups were underscored in November 2016 when it was acquired by Chinese online travel company Ctrip for...
| SSE
For Britain’s second-largest energy supplier, 2017 was a year of upheaval after it unveiled an ambitious merger with Npower. For GC Liz Tanner and her legal team, the combination threw...
Associate general counsel - new energies | Shell International
RISING STARS: GCS OF TOMORROW Susannah Collier won wider recognition from external peers. As Shell moves its focus towards the renewables industry, Collier has effectively transitioned out of an oil...
| Telefónica
The 29-strong legal team at Telefónica UK has had a lot to contend with over the last 12 months, encompassing all areas of the law but particularly commercial and litigation....
| The Carlyle Group
The London-based legal team of The Carlyle Group – a global alternative asset manager with $195bn of assets under management and one of the largest private equity firms in the...
| The Crown Estate
The young, bright GC and company secretary of The Crown Estate, Rob Booth, has ‘gone from being one to watch to being a big player’ since taking over from well-regarded...
| The Financial Times
In January, The Financial Times (FT) broke the story of the Presidents Club dinner. This went on to dominate the UK news and gain global reach, becoming the most read...
| The Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) GC Michael Shaw argues that banks always encounter more legal work than other industries and, based on the year RBS had, it is hard...
| Thomas Cook
It was a year of significant development for Thomas Cook, with GC Alice Marsden expanding the size of her legal team from 45 to 52 during 2017. Her group legal...
| TransferWise
Highlighted in last year’s GC Powerlist as a ‘company of tomorrow’, payments firm TransferWise has since grown to serve over two million customers, offering what it calls ‘the real exchange...
| Uber
One day it is a ride-hailing service, the next a food delivery company. Soon it could be dealing with flying cars. When you work for the inhouse legal team at...
| Unilever
No year is uneventful at global consumer goods giant Unilever, but 2017 in particular was memorable, thanks to the unsuccessful blockbuster merger with Kraft Heinz. It would have been the...
Head of labour law | BAE Systems
In early 2017, BAE Systems chief executive Ian King announced he would be retiring after nearly a decade in charge of the global defence giant. The company simultaneously confirmed that...
| Vodafone
Led by one of the most respected GCs in the business, Rosemary Martin, the Vodafone legal team received a huge number of nominations for the 2018 GC Powerlist, with both...
| Westfield Corporation
Since Leon Shelley joined Westfield Corporation in 2005, the Australian shopping centre operator has sold around half its portfolio globally. In the UK, it has shed eight centres to concentrate...
| WeWork
The disruption of traditional industries by tech-backed companies is a familiar story by now. Even so, the rapid rise of shared workspace provider WeWork has caught many in the commercial...
| Worldpay
Worldpay has established itself as a major player in payment processing, with the business attracting a buyout by US rival Vantiv for £9bn last summer. The transaction, which was agreed...
| ZPG
Over the last three years, ZPG’s legal team has been at the centre of a transformation in the company’s activities. Since it floated on the London Stock Exchange as Zoopla...
This year we return to the team format of the GC Powerlist, our flagship annual report chronicling the elite of the UK’s buy-side legal community. This team perspective inevitably takes us closer to state-of-the-legal industry ruminations than the editions focused on individual excellence.
Glancing at this year’s report, the second team-focused edition after the first in 2015, many long-term shifts in the profession have marched on regardless through the era of New Law and techfuelled disruption. Teams at leading companies are still accumulating more resources, skills and infrastructure to expand their empires. General counsel (GCs) at leading bluechips operating heavily in the UK are often fielding teams in the hundreds and have expanded substantially over the last three years, despite more pressure for efficiency. ‘More for less’ is a convenient fiction for GCs, but a ‘lot more work for a moderate increase in budget’ has less of a ring. …read more
It is odd that it is often claimed that demand for legal services is flat in Western economies, a conclusion reached by looking at the revenues of large law firms in the US and UK. In a highly regulated and complex global economy, demand is obviously robust – it is just that it is being increasingly met by providers other than law firms. It is now common for the 50 teams highlighted in our report to spend more than half their very substantial budgets internally, with Shell and Barclays particularly focused on driving efficiency.
In truth, as yet the impact of technology is primarily felt in conference circuit rhetoric rather than changing how teams operate. Nevertheless, the clearest shift since our last team report is a new willingness to bring in a handful of senior operational staff from business services backgrounds in areas like tech or procurement, or at least shift lawyers into senior operational roles.
In-house teams have been far too conservative in investing in business skills. That tendency – though obscured by spurious claims of clients driving change – has materially held back the advancement of the legal industry.
As such, the very recent rise of the legal chief operating officer promises a sea-change in the industry and the prospect of fundamental shifts in buying behaviour of the clients routinely spending £25m-plus annually. Early indications where such professionals have been deployed is that they hunger to shake things up and secure immediate results. Crucially, ushering in such professionals has done much to calm the entrenched turf war in major plcs that pitted procurement and finance against legal, and did much to frustrate constructive change.
But we are not here to nitpick. This report is primarily a celebration of the ascent of in-house counsel. Over the time that I have covered the legal industry, the in-house community has gone through a revolution and is now increasingly seen as a career of choice for many of the UK’s most talented commercial lawyers. There is no hyperbole to say such teams – along with the best US counterparts – lead the industry globally. The 50 teams here – highlighted after weeks of research by my colleagues James Wood, Tom Baker and Hamish McNicol – are exemplary. And the revolution is still in full flow.
Alex Novarese
The best teams are founded on diversity. And by diversity I mean diversity of thought, diversity of experience and diversity of leadership, as much as anything else.
If ever there was a time to reflect on the importance of diversity – in all its forms – in the era of #MeToo, #TimesUp and the gender pay gap, that time is now. Irrespective of whether studies show that greater diversity delivers greater performance – they do – ensuring we run balanced teams and organisations that offer equal access and equal opportunity is simply the right thing to do as human beings.
And I’m saying this as a white, male, middle-aged leader of a City law firm in the full knowledge that, as a sector, we have a very long way to go. Like other sectors, we’re rightly being held accountable by our people, by the government and by the media. Critically, we’re rightly being held accountable by our clients, too.
As clients of City law firms like RPC, those represented in the Powerlist are playing an increasingly leading role in ensuring diversity doesn’t just rise up the agenda, but stays there.
What particularly struck me about the list of topperforming legal teams showcased in this year’s Powerlist was also the diversity of organisations represented, from start-ups to established players; technology companies to retailers; and UK-headquartered operations to sprawling global giants.
The business issues that these companies face will be many and varied. It stands to reason, then, that the greater diversity in the teams advising them, the more commercially-valuable the advice they will be giving. It’s about being able to consider commercial challenges from a range of viewpoints – the broader the range, the more complete the advice and the better the end result.
And, increasingly, in-house lawyers are having a major influence on the ultimate end result: the bottom line. Over the six years we have been involved in the GC Powerlist, my perception is that the role of the in-house legal team has become progressively more critical to the successful running of businesses. The in-house lawyer has moved on from being the moral compass to becoming an indispensable business adviser to the board. A growing number are achieving that coveted seat at the table.
That’s never more apparent than in a crisis situation – such as a major cyber incident – when, more often than not, the GC and their legal team are at the heart of managing the response. Caught in the maelstrom, that’s no doubt a challenging place to be. But it’s a significant opportunity to demonstrate commercial value, too, not least when your share price can rise or fall on the basis of the decisions you make.
So, having a strong sense of leadership and the right team around you is absolutely key. And, in my experience, balancing a shared sense of purpose with a good degree of autonomy helps to drive the high-performance culture we all strive for. But, running through it all, is communication – if you don’t have open and fertile lines of communication then, at best, you’ll have pockets of high-performing individuals. Great communication is fundamental to great leadership – and both are fundamental to great teams.
This publication is a list of truly great in-house legal teams. Congratulations to all of those who have been featured.
James Miller
Managing partner Tel: 020 3060 6517
[email protected]
Cornerstone Research supports the world’s leading law firms and corporations in their most complex matters. For more than 25 years, we have provided economic and financial analyses and expert testimony in thousands of disputes, arbitrations and regulatory proceedings.
Clients rely on us for clear and objective assessments. Our experts – both within the firm and externally – include leading academics, authorities on a range of industries and former senior government officials.
Today’s legal environment poses growing demands in terms of both data and analyses. Clients not only need to quickly extract intelligence and useful insights from traditional sources, including financial and transactional records, but also from non-traditional sources, such as emails and social media. Our ability to categorise and analyse these data sources efficiently and effectively is crucial.
Cornerstone Research has 700 staff in offices in London and throughout the US. In Europe, we focus on competition cases, international arbitrations and matters in the financial services sector.
The depth and breadth of our experience, combined with our extensive expert network, provide clients with an unmatched level of consistent high-quality work and effective support.
Peter Davis
Senior vice president
Tel: 020 3655 0910
[email protected]
The role of a general counsel (GC) has developed substantively over the last decade due to increasingly complex regulation, technological advancements and globalisation. GCs now bring more to the table than just their legal expertise and act as strategic legal and business advisers to the chief executive and executive leadership teams. Recruiting and developing the right talent has become harder and even more critical than ever before.
GCs are now viewed as the go-to advisers for chief executives and boards of directors on laws and regulations, as well as public policy, ethics and risk. In addition, GCs now possess broad financial acumen and commercial understanding, leading them to also participate in senior leadership discussions on complex business problems and to provide innovative solutions. The GC has become a principal member of senior management teams and offers advice not just on legal matters but in helping shape discussion and debate on broader business issues.
Among in-house senior lawyers, individuals that stand out have deep financial understanding, including the ability to read balance sheets, interpret profit and loss statements and have the ability to collaborate and develop close relationships with finance departments. Senior lawyers who aspire to become GCs must expand their business knowledge, gain diverse financial acumen and develop strong leadership skills. Joining crossfunctional strategic projects is an example of how legal talent can learn about other areas of a business and develop a broader organisation-wide understanding.
The quality of leadership is one of the most important predictors of the success of an in-house legal function. The combination of career experience, characteristics, competencies, values and motivations determine an individual’s ability as a successful leader. The most critical competencies required of today’s strategic legal adviser are organisational awareness, ensuring accountability, collaborating by building relationships across the business and having the courage and gravitas to challenge chief executives and boards, when appropriate.
Overall, when appointing the next GC, it is important for organisations to look beyond legal expertise and consider broader business and industry knowledge, as well as ethical values and cultural fit.
Corinne Lennock
Senior consultant, legal and compliance EMEA
Tel: 020 7337 2722
[email protected]
Legal departments and law firms are under increasing cost pressures and it is no longer about doing more with less; it is simply a question of efficiency: top-quality output with less cost, fewer people and fewer mistakes. This leads the enlightened to the hot topics of business and digital transformation, which go hand in hand with technology and raise the issue of digital trust.
Automation of processes, secure and instant collaborative working and artificial intelligence provide huge opportunities for increasing efficiencies and quality, and creating the transparency that engenders trust in the client/provider relationship. Coupling this with the inherent security advantages of such technologies, a firm awareness of the associated risks, and adherence to an ever-changing regulatory and statutory landscape, gives the opportunity to create an environment of digital trust.
Safelink provides a highly secure means of increasing the efficiency of smart delivery of legal services to, and by, in-house legal departments and law firms, while adding strength to GDPR positioning.
Providing tools that encourage the building of trusted relationships between law firms and their clients or internal legal departments with their panel firms requires flexibility and attention to the specific requirements of the relationship. The trade-off between security and convenience in the technical age is ever-present when considering issues of digital trust, and customisable tools that give absolute security and the flexibility to meet specific reporting needs can be hard to find. Tales of woe that appear regularly of data breaches and malware issues beg the question of who or what will be next?
At Safelink, security is at the heart of the delivery of all our services and is woven through every part of the system. Coupling that infrastructure with the ability to customise tools to the degree that will simplify the delivery and receipt of legal services strengthens the bond between client and legal service provider. While we do not pretend to offer the panacea to all these issues, we listen hard to what our clients are telling us and work hard to deliver well-thought-out software that makes sense in the hands of the user.
Harry Boxall
Director
Tel: 020 8798 3140
Legal departments and law firms are under increasing cost pressures and it is no longer about doing more with less; it is simply a question of efficiency: top-quality output with less cost, fewer people and fewer mistakes. This leads the enlightened to the hot topics of business and digital transformation, which go hand in hand with technology and raise the issue of digital trust.
Automation of processes, secure and instant collaborative working and artificial intelligence provide huge opportunities for increasing efficiencies and quality, and creating the transparency that engenders trust in the client/provider relationship. Coupling this with the inherent security advantages of such technologies, a firm awareness of the associated risks, and adherence to an ever-changing regulatory and statutory landscape, gives the opportunity to create an environment of digital trust.
Safelink provides a highly secure means of increasing the efficiency of smart delivery of legal services to, and by, in-house legal departments and law firms, while adding strength to GDPR positioning.
Providing tools that encourage the building of trusted relationships between law firms and their clients or internal legal departments with their panel firms requires flexibility and attention to the specific requirements of the relationship. The trade-off between security and convenience in the technical age is ever-present when considering issues of digital trust, and customisable tools that give absolute security and the flexibility to meet specific reporting needs can be hard to find. Tales of woe that appear regularly of data breaches and malware issues beg the question of who or what will be next?
At Safelink, security is at the heart of the delivery of all our services and is woven through every part of the system. Coupling that infrastructure with the ability to customise tools to the degree that will simplify the delivery and receipt of legal services strengthens the bond between client and legal service provider. While we do not pretend to offer the panacea to all these issues, we listen hard to what our clients are telling us and work hard to deliver well-thought-out software that makes sense in the hands of the user.
Bob Storey
Managing director, legal solutions
[email protected]
Legal 500’s 2025 edition of the GC Summit Taiwan 2025 at the Mandarin Oriental Taipei raised the bar for GC-focused, content led events for corporate counsel in Taiwan. The event provided an invaluable opportunity for the in-house legal community in this dynamic and globally respected market to explore the challenges and opportunities shaping their profession in an increasingly complex global landscape.
Opening remarks were delivered by Joe Boswell, Global Editor of The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist series, who welcomed attendees and highlighted the Summit’s central theme of in-house lawyers leading with agility and foresight in a rapidly changing world. Boswell emphasised the strength and dynamism of Taiwan’s legal community, setting the tone for an afternoon of thoughtful and practical dialogue. He then introduced Lois Lin, Chief Legal Officer of Wiwynn Corporation, who officially opened the day’s proceedings with remarks on innovation, collaboration, and leadership within Taiwan’s corporate legal sector, particularly in regards to utilising AI and legal tech tools within a modern legal department.
The first panel Powering Digital Growth: Challenges and Opportunities in Taiwan’s Data Center Landscape, examined the infrastructure driving Taiwan’s digital expansion. Ken-Ying Tseng, Lily Kuo, and Chi Lee of Lee and Li discussed how legal teams can balance rapid technological growth with compliance, sustainability, and innovation, offering practical insights into the evolving regulatory environment surrounding data centres.
The second session, U.S. Tariffs, Export Controls, and Sanctions Under the New Administration: Implications for Taiwan’s Exporters, featured Winston Y. Chan and Matthew S. Axelrod, Partners at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Drawing on their experience as former U.S. government enforcement officials, they provided a compelling analysis of shifting U.S. trade policies under the new administration and their implications for Taiwan’s exporters.
Following this, Winning in the Federal Circuit: Recent Case Studies brought James Lin and Matthew Wawrzyn, Partners at FisherBroyles, to the stage for a fascinating discussion on Federal Circuit litigation strategy. Sharing lessons from cases they personally argued and won, the panellists provided attendees with practical takeaways on managing cross-border IP disputes.
The final session, AI for In-House Legal Teams: Evolution or Revolution?, explored the realities of AI adoption within corporate legal departments. Jolie Shu Chun Liao, Hsiao Wei (William) Tsai, Christine Yang, and Sabrina Chang shared insights into how technology is reshaping workflows, decision-making, and the role of legal teams across industries.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Joe Boswell, followed by drinks and canapés, where attendees continued the discussion in a relaxed setting. The GC Summit Taiwan 2025 reaffirmed The Legal 500’s commitment to providing a platform for Taiwan’s in-house counsel to share experiences, gain insights, and shape the future of the legal profession.
