General counsel: Siobhan Moriarty. Global team headcount: 140 lawyers. Global drinks giant Diageo is noted for housing a weighty 140-strong legal team that deals with issues spanning M&A, intellectual property (IP), and antitrust work on an international scale, with the team receiving a number of citations. Operating as a matrix structure, the team is praised …
Vice president, legal: Paul van Reesch. Team headcount: 30 lawyers Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is in charge of the manufacturing and distribution of Coca-Cola in Great Britain, involved in operations from packaging, supply and advertising, to major consumer-focused projects such as sponsoring the London Eye. The team has a reputation for being imaginative and progressive despite …
Head of legal services: Nick Grant. Team headcount: 18 lawyers Collaborative working is at the heart of the Sainsbury’s attitude towards external counsel, with head of legal services Nick Grant being an advocate for building strong links with the outside partners that he terms as a ‘legal community’. According to one law firm partner: ‘The …
Regional general counsel, western Europe: Benoit Belhomme. Group legal director and general counsel: Neil Withington. Team headcount: 300 lawyers Operating in one of the most litigious and heavily regulated industries, it is unsurprising that the London-headquartered British American Tobacco (BAT) is cited as having one of the most seasoned and capable teams in the business. …
Director of legal services and company secretary: Paul Lister. Team headcount: 45 lawyers Associated British Foods (ABF)’s profile has been achieved despite it running a lean team for a £13bn multinational. The team consists of 45 lawyers across 47 countries worldwide involved in a wide range of activities from retail to manufacturing. Its director of …
General counsel and corporate affairs director: John Davidson. Team headcount: 18 lawyers. High-profile GC John Davidson (pictured) manages a bench of seasoned corporate and finance lawyers at South African-bred brewing and beverage giant SABMiller. Headquartered in London, the world’s second-largest brewer by revenue houses a 35-staff in-house function (of which half are legally trained) and comprises …
General counsel: Craig Stoehr. Team headcount: 25 lawyers. Before former Latham & Watkins partner Craig Stoehr joined Thomas Cook as its first-ever GC in April 2013 from Eastgate Capital Group, the travel company had no centralised legal function and had issued three profit warnings after suffering the impact of the Icelandic ash cloud and unrest …
Head of legal: Robert Ivens. Team headcount: 18 lawyers. The iconic British retailer has faced its share of reverses of late, with questions mounting over the future of chief executive Marc Bolland amid continuing declining sales in clothing, footwear and homeware. But as befits this British institution, Marks & Spencer (M&S)’s legal team remains one …
Chief legal officer: Ritva Sotamaa. Team headcount: 500 (including support staff). Ritva Sotamaa has served as the chief legal officer of Unilever since 2013 and spent most of her career in the healthcare industry prior to that. She was global GC for Siemens Healthcare from 2009 to 2013 and prior to this held several GC …
General counsel: Jasy Loyal. Team headcount: six lawyers. Despite rarely instructing outside counsel, the compact legal team at HCA International is noted for achieving a number of successes for the company, including advising on more than 1,000 contracts and steering HCA’s revalidation programme for 3,000 doctors. The team has faced its fair share of contentious …
