Profile: Chris Newby, AIG

Posted on |

As AIG’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Chris Newby appears extraordinarily calm for a man in charge of a burgeoning portion of a $65.7bn business, that was described as on the brink of failure a couple of years ago.

Now, happily labelled as the ‘largest turnaround in corporate history’, things could easily have turned out very differently at New York-headquartered AIG. Newby’s apparent poise masks the prolonged period of extreme uncertainty and hard work that it took to get there. It’s unsurprising that he is still cautious, commenting: ‘There is no doubt there are signs of economic recovery, but we inevitably still face challenges.’

Continue reading “Profile: Chris Newby, AIG”

Sticking to the rules – the rise of the in-house litigator

Posted on |

As the UK’s financial institutions and leaders in commerce and industry embrace a tougher regulatory landscape, Legal Business looks at the movers and shakers in their disputes and compliance teams.

It’s December 2012 and the world’s third largest bank, HSBC, has just entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ). It has been fined $1.9bn (£1.2bn), then the largest ever bank payout to date, over its inadequate anti-money laundering system.

Continue reading “Sticking to the rules – the rise of the in-house litigator”

Profile: Rosemary Martin, Vodafone

Posted on |

Continuous money saving has been the order of the day for Vodafone’s general counsel (GC) and company secretary Rosemary Martin, who has been under continued pressure to cut costs and headcount since becoming responsible for around 350 professionals in the telecom giant’s global legal team spread across 24 countries.

Vodafone, in common with other mobile phone operators and the telecoms sector at large, has faced strong headwinds, including tough economic conditions in Southern Europe, an adverse European regulatory environment and increased competition, leading to a dip in its 2012/13 revenue of 4.2%, albeit to well over £44bn.

Continue reading “Profile: Rosemary Martin, Vodafone”

The in-house survey: Buy-side stories

Posted on |

In
our second annual in-house survey, corporate legal teams are continuing to grow amid strong demand for their counsel. How high can general counsel build their empires?

And the growth story continues. Legal Business’s second annual in-house survey confirms again that, despite the prolonged economic headwinds afflicting the UK and Western economies, in a risky and turbulent commercial environment, corporate legal teams continue to expand.

Take one finding from our research: more than two thirds of in-house lawyers report that their teams have expanded over the last five years, with 43% seeing increases of over 10%. The remainder said their team has stayed static.

Continue reading “The in-house survey: Buy-side stories”

The in-house survey: Through their paces

Posted on |

Increasingly assertive clients are making advisers jump through more hoops to secure lucrative work. Legal Business assesses if law firms are rising to the challenge.

While the prolonged struggle for understanding between in-house counsel and their external providers has seen general counsel (GCs) lose many small battles with law firms over the years, the signs are there that clients are increasingly winning the war. After pressing for years to get value for money through sensible service delivery and flexible pricing, in-house teams are reporting greater goodwill towards their external legal providers this year, perhaps because the threat of reduced panel slots has become a reality.

Continue reading “The in-house survey: Through their paces”

The in-house survey: Time and money

Posted on |

This year, we asked in-house counsel to name the best law firms across three core yardsticks. Amid pressure on budgets, we chart the advisers whose time is worth clients’ money

Asking law firms to rate their peers objectively is like nailing jelly to a wall — they are often either evasive or delusional. Researchers at The Legal 500 seek peer feedback as part of the process when ranking firms, but nothing beats considered feedback from the clients themselves, which is why we took the opportunity to ask a large in-house audience to single out individual firms for the quality of their service as part of our survey this year.

Continue reading “The in-house survey: Time and money”

The in-house survey: The Last Word

Posted on |

Canvassed for our annual in-house survey, general counsel at some of the UK’s leading companies give their perspective on risk, fees and the future of law

Keep it in the family

‘As part of our evolution over the past five years, we are also doing more internally, particularly focusing on transactions that do not proceed or do not come to fruition. When you look at the statistics, because we get involved at a very early stage only one in ten deals goes all the way. Of those nine out of ten that do not proceed, we try and identify them as early as possible and ensure that we are handling those matters internally as far as possible.’

Khasruz Zaman, head of M&A legal, Barclays

Continue reading “The in-house survey: The Last Word”

Profile: Michael Shaw, Barclays

Posted on |

The banking giant’s deputy GC discusses management challenges

Barclays deputy general counsel (GC) Michael Shaw has proved himself to be highly adaptable since joining the bank in 2009 from legacy Herbert Smith.

It was in 2010 that the outside world witnessed the knock-on effect of Barclays Capital head Jonathan Hughes stepping down, after which Judith Shepherd moved into the role, leaving vacant her position as GC of retail and business banking (RBB). For seven months Shaw stood in as interim RBB GC before Mark Chapman was appointed in October 2010.

Continue reading “Profile: Michael Shaw, Barclays”

That bright shiny idea – the in-house teams trying to move from costs to business driver

Posted on |

With mounting pressure on legal teams to up productivity, a handful of pioneering GCs have attempted the fundamental shift towards becoming a commercial centre

‘A lot of people like to be seen to be innovative,’ says Richard Susskind, author of Tomorrow’s Lawyers, ‘but one shouldn’t pursue innovation in and of itself, it’s got to be relevant.’

While this means different things to different industries at different times, within the context of the in-house legal community in the grip of an enduring economic malaise, there can be little more relevant than the innovations of departments that have turned themselves from traditional cost centres into profit-generating or business development limbs of the overall enterprise.

Continue reading “That bright shiny idea – the in-house teams trying to move from costs to business driver”