Sean McGovern
Director of North America and general counsel
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.
At the moment, McGovern oversees a legal team of 24 people. He tries to keep everything in-house as he says Lloyd’s is an ‘unusual animal’.
‘Our total budget is about £3.5m which is not huge by corporate standards,’ he says, and applauds his in-house team for anticipating risk before it even happens. ‘It is not a back office legal team waiting to clean up the mess. They are part of the decision-making process.’
Law firms used: Arnold & Porter, Baker & McKenzie, Bird & Bird, Drinker Biddle & Reath, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
2003-present: Director of North America and general counsel, Lloyd’s of London
2000-03: Head of legal, Lloyd’s of London
1996-2000: Solicitor, Lloyd’s Legal