Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: Welcome everyone. We have a fantastic panel of extremely talented and insightful people here this evening.
As a starter for ten, what do you see as the real opportunities and benefits for in-house lawyers using generative AI in your day-to-day dealings? Continue reading “The Ireland debate: Don’t fear the robots”
It is fair to say that Colt Technology Services does not look out of place in its trendy environs of Shoreditch, East London. Decorated with the UK’s largest wall mural, which the company commissioned a collection of graffiti and street artists to create, the building comes complete with its own beehive, shortly to produce its first batch of honey. Colt’s deputy general counsel (GC) Alessandro Galtieri, ever the attentive host, proudly shows the artwork off when LB drop by for a chat.
As both his parents studied law, it was perhaps inevitable that Galtieri would pursue a legal career, despite initial attempts to resist: ‘I did try to escape!’ he quips, ‘I wanted to do something else – I was passionate about astrophysics.’ Continue reading “The Client Profile: Alessandro Galtieri, Colt Technology Services”
Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: How much access do you have to the board? How intrinsic are you to the decision-making processes of your business?
Aurea Garrido, Warner Bros. Discovery News & Sports: My team sits with the business. For me, a decisive factor was being part of the executive committee, which I have been for three or four years now. I needed to be part of something; not just advising on technical legal issues. Not everyone is as lucky. I know lawyers who have more senior positions than me in the same industry who don’t get access to the exec team or the board. Continue reading “The in-house debate: Time for a quick Chat(GPT)?”
‘I came into law by accident,’ admits Sebastian Goldsmith, general counsel (GC) of occupational health service provider Medigold Health. ‘I guess it was a second choice. I did Spanish and Portuguese at university, and I was going to work for an investment bank, as I did an internship with HSBC during my year abroad in São Paulo. The plan was to join them or another bank when I graduated. But all intakes were withdrawn, because it was August 2008,’ Goldsmith recalls.
The onset of the global financial crisis created a dilemma: ‘I sat there and thought, what am I going to do now? People always said to me, you should be a lawyer, because I have a strong sense of justice and fairness, and I liked a debate, and I’m quite verbal. So I went to BPP and did law school.’ Continue reading “The Client Profile: Sebastian Goldsmith, Medigold Health”
Aleksandra Schellenberg, UBS’ global head of legal sustainable finance, knew she wanted to be a lawyer from the age of 14, revealing that she made her decision after watching the first episode of American legal comedy drama Ally McBeal, while growing up in Poland in the late 1990s.
She recalls: ‘I remember after watching the show, going to my mum and telling her I wanted to be a lawyer and she said, “Hey honey, we don’t have any lawyers in the family, that might be a bit difficult!” Continue reading “The Client Profile: Aleksandra Schellenberg, UBS”
Terra Potter (whose middle name is Cotta – LB has seen the proof) proudly proclaims on LinkedIn that she originally hails from a cornfield outside Chicago and, while many lawyers claim to have had an unconventional path into a legal career, hers has been more so than most. Growing up in Rochelle, Illinois, she started working in kitchens, first as a dishwasher at the age of 14, before working her way up the cooking ladder, and so set her sights on a culinary career. A move to Hyde Park, New York and The Culinary Institute of America at the age of 17 had the unexpected consequence of a passion for the law.
‘The penultimate class was restaurant law, which is actually just like contract law’, Potter recalls. ‘It was so cool and the world made sense through it. That sparked the joy for law in me.’ Continue reading “The Client Profile: Terra Potter, Hexcel Corporation”
Our annual Euro Elite survey finds the 100 leading firms across more than 40 jurisdictions still in a strong position, despite a potentially bleak outlook for 2023.
According to the European Central Bank, economic growth slowed considerably in the third quarter of 2022, as strong effects from the post-pandemic reopening and easing supply chain disruptions were tempered by lower consumer confidence and high inflation. This high inflation, uncertainty and weak consumer and business confidence is predicted to slow economic growth from 3.4% in 2022 to 0.5% in 2023. But, as energy markets rebalance, supply bottlenecks resolve and foreign demand strengthens, growth is expected to recover to 1.9% in 2024 and 1.8% in 2025. Continue reading “Overview – Elite Level: annual Euro Elite report finds the continent’s leading independents still in a bullish mood”
Jelena Madir’s career to date has been defined by two crises. The 2008 financial crash saw her out of a job and forced to look beyond private practice for gainful employment. Fast forward just over a decade, and the Covid-19 pandemic has spawned the work which she credits as the highlight of her career, and for which the Gavi legal team she leads won the Most Transformative In-House Team gong at the 2022 Legal Business Awards.
A globetrotting career, which has so far spanned two continents and five countries, began in the US. Despite having studied government and Asian studies with Chinese as an undergraduate, Madir insists: ‘I always knew I wanted to be a commercial or corporate lawyer.’
Continue reading “The Client Profile: Jelena Madir, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance”
While she is loath to admit it, Sharon Blackman, managing director and general counsel in Citi’s global legal affairs and compliance division, ‘hated’ her law degree. Clearly this has not held her back though, as her GC of the Year gong at the Legal Business Awards in September testifies.
Despite not falling in love with the law at an academic level, during her degree, Blackman took on pro bono work at her local Citizens Advice Bureau, and it was there that her passion was first ignited. She recalls: ‘It was really useful for developing the practical piece and I found that much more engaging than just the theoretical piece.’ Continue reading “The Client profile: Sharon Blackman, Citi”
‘Frankly, what’s a boardroom compared to a regiment of soldiers?!’ Claire Holdsworth is philosophical about her journey from army officer to motorbike-riding GC of Marathon Asset Management.
Some say getting your foot in the door of a top law firm is often the hardest part for aspiring lawyers, but Holdsworth’s journey to her training contract interview definitely casts that sentiment in a whole new light. Continue reading “The Client profile: Claire Holdsworth, Marathon Asset Management”
