As part of our research into the UK’s leading in-house talent, we also sought out the rising stars to watch for the years ahead. Here are a dozen corporate counsel already making their mark.
Musonda Kapotwe: EMEA counsel for resolution and recovery, Citigroup
Musonda Kapotwe leads a cross-border team of lawyers and compliance personnel managing the implementation of European directives and other local legislation relating to Citigroup’s recovery and resolution planning, bail-in capital requirements, EU depositor protection and operational continuity. She also advises on European Union bank structural reform legislation and leads advocacy with Citi’s regulators and trade associations on ‘too big to fail’ legislation.
Musonda Kapotwe advises on EU bank reforms and leads advocacy with Citi’s regulators on ‘too big to fail’ legislation.
During the financial crisis, Kapotwe played an active role within Citi in the pledging of the bank’s financial assets as collateral to central banks in Europe and the US and the restructuring of distressed credits, including affiliates of Dubai Inc and the $1bn restructuring of Interpipe in Ukraine. From 2008-15, she was global counsel for Citigroup’s microfinance program, helping to facilitate the financing of thousands of entrepreneurs in developing countries. She currently sits on the steering committee of the UK Black Solicitors Network and was recently elected as a board director of International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA), an organisation that places lawyers from Africa into leading UK and US law firms, investment banks and multinationals for short-term secondments.
Kenny Robertson: Head of business services legal, The Royal Bank of Scotland
Kenny Robertson is responsible for the Edinburgh-based lawyers in The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) business services team and is also the direct report for lawyers in the bank’s intellectual property team. Robertson supports the drafting and negotiation of the bank’s outsourcing arrangements with third-party vendors and provides transaction and strategic advice on bank-wide restructuring and divestment programmes. He also provides support to the bank’s technology, innovation and fintech initiatives and works with the bank’s small-and-medium enterprise and start-up teams in the promotion of its entrepreneurial agenda.
According to one private practice partner at DLA Piper, Robertson is ‘not only a sound lawyer, but also a businessman, not just in terms of being close to the underlying business of his own organisation but also understanding the business dynamic of managing external counsel relationships’. This has led him to create a number of new approaches for the legal team’s interaction with its firms, including common proposal templates and training workshops at which presentations are given jointly by different panel firms.
Prior to joining RBS in 2006, Robertson was an in-house lawyer at cloud-based software provider Graham Technology (now Sword Ciboodle).
Annaliese Hemsley: Head of commercial and product litigation, British American Tobacco
Annaliese Hemsley joined British American Tobacco (BAT) in 2009 and has since been promoted to a senior litigation role that covers 180 countries. She heads a growing and well-respected team of litigators that have successfully defended a range of tobacco-related claims against various BAT companies.
‘Annaliese Hemsley is praised for her exceptional attention to detail.’
Hemsley is described as having ‘a keen understanding of litigation strategy and risks’ and is praised for her ‘exceptional attention to detail’ and ability to keep on top of a large volume of small-to-medium-sized litigation cases in a variety of jurisdictions while simultaneously managing some of the most significant high-value tobacco disputes in the world.
William Needham: European legal counsel, KKR Credit
A business as diverse as the US private equity giant KKR requires a wide range of expertise from its lawyers. William Needham joined KKR Credit in 2014 as its first lawyer in the UK and Europe and has since been dealing with everything from corporate work to tax funds and regulatory matters.
Previously an associate at both Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Jones Day, Needham is described as ‘a fantastic hands-on lawyer’ and is particularly praised for his ability to drive deals forward and build bridges between legal and financial teams. He has already gained the confidence of senior people within the business in both the US and Europe, according to one private practice recommendation.
Daniel Whitehead: Assistant general counsel and director, Citibank
Referenced by private practice teams as a ‘shining example of an in-house counsel with the skills to balance the competing interests of his own organisation while being exceptionally responsive to the needs of his organisation’s client’, UK-based deputy general counsel at Citi’s legal team, Daniel Whitehead, has led on some of the most complex deals the bank has been involved with in recent years, including the US bankruptcy and Bahamian winding up proceeding for the Baha Mar resort project.
This high-profile transaction involved simultaneous and competing US bankruptcy proceedings and Bahamian insolvency proceedings along with other related litigation in the UK. At one stage the transaction had simultaneous legal actions occurring in three jurisdictions (Delaware, The Bahamas and England). Whitehead is a noted specialist in corporate trust work and is a regular public speaker on the subject.
‘Henry Gardener will be a top ten GC within the next five years.’
Henry Gardener: Head of legal and regulatory affairs, Markel International
Tipped to be ‘a top ten GC within the next five years’, Gardener was promoted to his current role at Markel International in January 2016 after two years with the company as in-house counsel. In his time with the insurance company he has worked on a number of significant projects, devised a strategy for dealing with complex multi-party litigation and instituted an annual forum to stimulate strategic thinking and communication among panel firms.
He is praised for demonstrating ‘a strong grasp of the regulatory, technical and commercial challenges confronting a modern day international insurance company’ and is recommended for helping Markel to react in the face of tougher regulatory oversight.
Adrian Pound: Assistant general counsel, Interserve
Adrian Pound, assistant general counsel at FTSE 250 multinational design, construction and facilities management company Interserve, is described as a ‘wise head on relatively young shoulders’.
Pound is cited for his ability to get the most out of the people he works with and has helped to grow the legal team by taking additional responsibility from GC Daniel Bush. He handles a wide range of matters, including litigation, regulatory affairs and corporate work along with helping to manage the company’s relationship with its external firms.
Jamie Howard: Head of employment legal EMEA, UBS
Jamie Howard joined UBS in 2006 after four years with Simmons & Simmons and has since risen to become the head of employment legal for Europe, Middle East and Africa. His career highlights have included involvement in UBS’ rogue trader case and helping the company to set its approach to remuneration rules imposed by regulators.
Over the last two years, he has had to deal with a new wave of legislation relating to staff rewards and bonuses, while managing his team against a background of cost-cutting in the banking sector generally. Howard is cited as an exceptional technical employment lawyer who can handle complex regulatory issues while balancing commercial business needs.
Cara Ramage: Senior legal counsel, M&A, commercial and projects, Associated British Foods
A senior member of Associated British Foods’ well-regarded in-house team, Cara Ramage received recommendations for her flexibility and skill at working with others. She is, in the words of one senior lawyer, ‘morphing into a major corporate lawyer’.
Ramage has overseen a large number of transactions in her six years with the company and is well known for her strong commercial approach to legal matters. She moved to Associated British Foods from Simmons & Simmons in 2007 and was promoted to her current role as senior legal counsel in 2013.
Angela Morgan: Deputy general counsel, Associated British Ports
Angela Morgan is described by Associated British Ports (ABP) general counsel (GC) Andrew Garner as an ‘outstanding deputy, talent, and a real rising star’.
She cut her teeth at commercial law firm Simpson Grierson, one of the largest commercial firms in New Zealand, before moving to London to join Taylor Wessing in 2007.
‘Angela Morgan is an outstanding deputy, talent, and a real rising star.’
Morgan was cited in the GC Power List 2015: The Team Elite for her tenacity and ability to grasp key issues.
She was highlighted as ‘instrumental’ in working on the company’s £350m agreement with Siemens at Green Port Hull to produce wind turbines on the Alexandra Dock following a three-year process of selecting the site. For Associated British Ports, which owns and operates the dock, it is the single-largest investment in the port of Hull since it was constructed 200 years ago.
Joanne Sinar: Head of legal, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Joanne Sinar runs complex projects, leads on negotiations and co-ordinates across company divisions at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a non-departmental public body created through the Energy Act 2014. Working in an organisation with just 200 staff responsible for decommissioning and cleaning up nuclear facilities, Sinar is cited for her handling of the NDA’s recommendations for the management of the nuclear site at Sellafield.
Sinar has held a variety of roles since qualifying over 15 years ago, starting out as a legal adviser at RAC Legal Services, and spent her formative years at Thring Townsend and Laing O’Rourke. She moved to Bevan Brittan in 2005, where she gained experience in the construction and engineering team before embarking on her first in-house role at the NDA in 2011 as a commercial projects lawyer, and was promoted to head of legal in January 2015.
Says one admiring private practitioner: ‘She’s top of the legal tree and delivering large projects – she’s doing very well to manage it all.’
Andrea Clarke: Director of legal, Transport for London
Transport for London (TfL) appointed Andrea Clarke to one of its top in-house legal jobs in 2009, promoting the former commercial law team manager to the post of legal director.
As legal director Clarke oversees a 30-strong team working on commercial and infrastructure projects, property matters and employment issues and reports to TfL general counsel Howard Carter.
In 2013 Clarke’s remit expanded to take on further responsibility when the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, which is tasked with overseeing Scotland Yard and ensuring police accountability, came under the legal team’s remit. Other major projects included advising on legal issues leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
For further analysis, see: GC Powerlist 2016