About

For Timothy Pratt, the decision to move in-house following 30 years in private practice was a risky move. He admits now, ‘frankly, I had doubts whether I could do this job. I’d never worked in a corporate law department in my life’. As if that wasn’t daunting enough, he made the move in 2008, when the company was embroiled in numerous large pieces of litigation. But Pratt far exceeded all expectations: he restructured the department to allow for more focus on specialization, created a chief litigation office to centralize all litigation management resources, and ensured that business support lawyers did just that, without having to deal with litigation distractions. And he didn’t stop there – he also disbanded the international legal team and put in place local resources in the various regions, and reduced the number of outside counsel through the use of a Preferred Counsel Initiative, and began using alternative fee arrangements; of the latter, he says ‘my background as an outside defense counsel for many years served me well. Between 2007 and 2012, we systematically reduced outside counsel costs by 59%. In our last year alone – 2011 -2012 – we further reduced outside counsel costs by 22%’. A contributing factor to these impressive statistics is the culture change Pratt has implemented – reducing risk, and introducing business/legal forums to ensure non-lawyers are kept abreast of emerging legal trends. Additionally, Pratt is focused on developing and nurturing new talent, having partnered with his HR department to help create and Advanced Leadership Development Program for employees that show potential. As one of Pratt’s in-house peers opines, he is ‘a great example of someone who serves both his company and his profession at the highest level’.