Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, North West Legal Consortium (NWLC)
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council is part of the North West Legal Consortium, set up in 2006 as the first combined consortium of barristers and solicitors. Jayne Hammond has served the council for over a decade and currently heads a team of 22 lawyers.
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Office of Fair Trading
Sheldon Mills’ responsibilities include the day-to-day delivery of the Office of Fair Trading’s merger caseload, management of the mergers group and representing the OFT externally. Mills heads a team of 35, including eight competition/litigation lawyers. The OFT does not have a legal panel as it doesn’t instruct law firms, but it does deal with a range of firms that require M&A transaction clearance.
London Borough of Sutton
Sutton’s legal panel is part of a wider consortium led by the London Borough of Bromley and set up in 2010. Around 26 firms provide counsel for various outer London boroughs, the Corporation of London and five district councils in Kent.
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Prudential
Margaret Coltman was only appointed to her role as group general counsel and company secretary in July 2009 but has a very impressive background, including more than 22 years as an insurance partner at Norton Rose.
XL Group
Rhic Webb is described by his external lawyers as ‘a very strong lawyer who has a very good eye for detail’. He says that increasingly his time is spent in corporate matters, as well as ‘the nuts and bolts of insurance and reinsurance issues’.
Lloyd’s of London
Sean McGovern was initially brought in to do finance work at Lloyd’s at the age of 26. Since then, he has been responsible for all the regulatory and government issues for Lloyd’s, and three years ago he took on the task of promoting and protecting Lloyd’s business interests in the US and Canada.
Canada Life
Kelvan Swinnerton is known for solving problems quickly. Having been a partner at insurance firm Kennedys for the best part of a decade, one private practitioner says of him: ‘Kel has a very sharp legal mind, which he couples with a drive to resolve problems proactively and practically – he always has an eye open for the most sensible solution. He also manages to maintain a lively sense of humour.’
ACE European Group
Kenneth Underhill admits that he is no easy taskmaster. He describes himself as ‘tough but fair – and of course ever busy’. As such, he expects both his in-house and external legal teams to have a thorough understanding of the insurance industry. As one insurance partner says: ‘He expects outside counsel to reflect ACE’s own innovative and commercial approach.’
Phoenix Group
Jane MacLeod likes firms equipped with strong regulatory experience and knowledge of the current challenges facing the insurance sector. Last year, the group’s legal spend totalled approximately £6m, split equally between internal and external advisers.
Aviva
Kirsty Cooper manages a total of 270 individuals, half of whom are based overseas. This includes all the lawyers and chartered secretaries across the group. In 2011, the company spent a whopping £60m on its legal spend, excluding any UK-based general insurance claims. Of this, half was spent on external law firms.
