‘My time on non-legal is the same as my time on legal’ – Bridgepoint GC Rachel Thompson

‘My time on non-legal is the same as my time on legal’ – Bridgepoint GC Rachel Thompson

Rachel Thompson – Partner and group general counsel, Bridgepoint Year of qualification: 2007 Clifford Chance, 2005-09 Bridgepoint, 2010-present It was never really a conscious decision to go in-house; I came on secondment from Clifford Chance two years after qualification, when Bridgepoint had just hired [former Travers Smith private equity head] Charlie Barter as its first …

‘I was asked to stay on as GC after an inspiring year-long secondment’ – Bain Europe GC Will Rosen

‘I was asked to stay on as GC after an inspiring year-long secondment’ – Bain Europe GC Will Rosen

Will Rosen – GC (Europe private equity), Bain Year of qualification: 1994 Weil Gotshal & Manges, 1996-2007 DLA Piper, 2008-11 Ropes & Gray, 2011-22 Bain Capital, 2022-present What made you decide to make the switch in-house? And how have you found the change? After a very enjoyable and fulfilling, decade-long career with Ropes & Gray …

Dialling in the deal – the inside track on the Vodafone/Three merger

Dialling in the deal – the inside track on the Vodafone/Three merger

Whatever metric you track, 2023 was a poor year for M&A. One bright spark amid the gloom was the proposed £15bn merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK, which was announced in summer 2023. If cleared by competition authorities, the deal will create the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator. The transaction was one of the …

Table toppers – the law firms leading the pack in the latest Legal 500 research

Table toppers – the law firms leading the pack in the latest Legal 500 research

Almost 1,200 firms have secured spots in the most recent UK Legal 500 Solicitors research, which provides law firms, in-house counsel and individuals with accurate and in-depth analysis of the best firms and lawyers working across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Between them the firms, roughly half of which are in London, share almost …

‘The wind was taken out of everyone’s sails’ – the M&A report 2023

‘The wind was taken out of everyone’s sails’ – the M&A report 2023

2021 was always going to be a tough year to follow. Quite how tough, few could have foreseen at the start of 2022. With global annual deal values totalling almost $6trn – a jump of more than 60% on 2020 – 2021 was roundly described in breathless superlatives. Following a year of pent-up demand during …

Onward, Singapore: King & Spalding names new managing partner as Sidley backs laterals in the city state

Onward, Singapore: King & Spalding names new managing partner as Sidley backs laterals in the city state

As a growing number of international firms pivot their focus in Asia to Singapore, King & Spalding’s appointment of banking heavyweight Andrew Brereton as the office’s new managing partner could be viewed as a declaration of redoubled commitment to the city state. The Atlanta-headquartered firm first brought the Clifford Chance veteran on board at the …

Onward, Singapore: King & Spalding names new managing partner as Sidley backs laterals in the city state

Onward, Singapore: King & Spalding names new managing partner as Sidley backs laterals in the city state

As a growing number of international firms pivot their focus in Asia to Singapore, King & Spalding’s appointment of banking heavyweight Andrew Brereton as the office’s new managing partner could be viewed as a declaration of redoubled commitment to the city state. The Atlanta-headquartered firm first brought the Clifford Chance veteran on board at the …

Euro Elite Benelux: Full steam ahead

Euro Elite Benelux: Full steam ahead

Independent law firms across the Benelux region have gone into 2022 with a renewed sense of optimism, with them successfully withstanding the challenges of Covid-19 to continue winning exciting new mandates. Reflective of the buoyant mood of the market, at Stibbe, Brussels managing partner Wouter Ghijsels says: ‘Last year was our best year in terms …

Legalease Research Services: Held to account

Legalease Research Services: Held to account

The team at BT Legal has spent the past three years changing the way it deals with external lawyers and manages its own lawyers. Most recently, it has brought in a new e-billing platform, MyLegal, which has overhauled how it manages legal spend. David Griffin, head of legal and governance systems and change at BT, …