About

Team size: 70
Major law firms used: Eversheds Sutherland, Slaughter and May

‘It’s been a hell of a busy year,’ reflects Rolls-Royce GC Mark Gregory. The back end of a global criminal investigation, massive internal restructuring programmes and high-profile issues with its Trent 1000 aircraft engine have clearly dominated the in-house legal function’s workload. But on top of that, Gregory has been charged with improving efficiency.

‘The challenge we have is to work out how we can pull efficiency levers like automation, outsourcing and commoditisation so that we’re empowering non-lawyers to do a lot of the tasks. As part of the group restructuring programme, we’re spending a lot of time looking at ways of working to make sure we’re fit for the future.’

Gregory has been with the company for more than 13 years and was appointed GC in late 2015, replacing Robert Webb QC. He has a team of 70 lawyers across the globe and is responsible for 11 different functions in the group, including legal, company secretary, ethics and compliance, internal audit, risk management and export control. He is also an executive team member and sits on the board.

In mid-2018, Rolls-Royce announced a two-year restructuring programme affecting 4,600 jobs. A few months earlier, the company had said it would simplify its business from five to three core business units based around civil aerospace, defence and power systems. As a result, the company sold its commercial marine division to Nordic tech company Kongsberg Gruppen for £500m, subject to regulatory approval. It also offloaded its L’Orange fuel injector business for €700m.

Gregory has in turn reorganised his team, having a chief counsel for each of the three businesses and a shared service centre for subject-matter expertise. He is now focusing his attention on outsourcing and automating more processes, as well as refreshing his legal panel. Gregory is involved in the Law Society-sponsored LawTech Delivery Panel, which is pushing for legal tech to grow in the same way fintech did in the UK.

‘The challenge I’ve been giving my law firms over the last year or so has been to make sure that they are collaborating with us so we can leverage their tech. A lot of law firms talk a good talk, but it can at times be quite difficult to distinguish between them.’

He adds: ‘We’re there to help run the business. That’s a broader task than just being the GC that pipes up whenever there’s a
legal issue.’