PwC Legal has hired former Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy partner Laetitia Costa to run its banking and finance team in London.
Norton Rose opens in San Francisco with entire Sidley Austin public finance team
Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) is to expand its public finance practice and open up a new office in San Francisco by taking on a team of lawyers from Sidley Austin. Continue reading “Norton Rose opens in San Francisco with entire Sidley Austin public finance team”
BAT appoints new legal chief following internal team overhaul
British American Tobacco (BAT) has appointed Irish lawyer Ronan Barry as its new legal chief to succeed incumbent Benoit Belhomme (pictured), following an internal shake-up of the company’s legal division.
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‘Evolution, not revolution’: New A&O management team sets sights on US, Europe and China growth
Continued and steady growth is the key focus for Allen & Overy‘s new management team, with senior partner Wim Dejonghe and managing partner Andrew Ballheimer setting their sights on growth in the US, China and Europe.
Remuneration revamp: Clifford Chance hikes NQ salaries
Clifford Chance (CC) is the latest Magic Circle firm to reveal its 2016/17 pay bands for newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers. Having taken effect last month (1 May), the inclusion of bonuses sees a rise in NQ pay at £85,000 compared to £70,000 before bonuses in 2015.
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BHS inquiry latest: Olswang remains in focus as MPs probe fees
As the inquiry into the sale of BHS continues, Work and Pensions committee chair Frank Field has asked Olswang to reveal details of its fees paid during the purchase of the retailer for £1 last year.
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Ashurst shakes up global management team with appointments across City and Australian offices
Ashurst has introduced a series of new roles to its global management team following the appointment of new Sydney-based global managing partner Paul Jenkins (pictured), who officially assumed his role yesterday (June 1). Continue reading “Ashurst shakes up global management team with appointments across City and Australian offices”
Ghost in the machine: AI, law, ethics – what does it mean for you?
There’s change afoot out there in the world, a world in which any remaining Luddites can no longer sit with their hands over their ears in a state of denial. We are in a period of digital technology which is so disruptive that the only thing that comes close to it in human history has been the first industrial revolution. That movement overturned the trajectory humans had been on through various contemporaneous developments in mechanical engineering, chemistry, metallurgy, and other disciplines, and its advancements altered the landscape of human history. Our digital revolution will effectively lay waste to that landscape created by the first industrial revolution and something entirely new will have to take its place.
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In-house life: Ton van den Bosch, International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
When I joined ICTSI two and a half years ago as their first GC, we recruited additional in-house counsel around the globe. One of the biggest challenges remains the different time zones. When we open for business in Manila on a Tuesday morning, our colleagues in Latin America are getting ready for dinner on their Monday evening, but with planning, continuous communication and frequent meetings, this can be managed.
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Dissenting perspectives
This Spring, GC magazine and RPC teamed up for a series of innovative events bringing provocative, and often downright maverick, business perspectives to an audience of in-house lawyers in London.
The view from the top
‘I have relied upon lawyers so much in my commercial career; it is important you understand how much your peer group have bailed me out of the crap I have found myself in, accidentally or otherwise. I want to highlight the attributes I think are remarkable (and also those that are unhelpful) in steering a company towards success.
Let’s talk business: part two
Tim Murphy has worked for MasterCard for 16 years. Starting out as an in-house lawyer, he then spent over ten years in non-legal business roles, serving as president of the U.S. region and chief product officer. In 2014, he stepped back into legal to assume the mantle of general counsel. In the second of a two-part interview, GC caught up with him to hear how the integration of the legal and business teams are impacting the company’s programmes.
Crouching tiger, dwindling dragon
Broadly speaking, the economies of Asia comprise the largest financial and population bloc in the world. Throughout the Global Financial Crisis, many of Asia’s strongest economies remained surprisingly resilient, thanks in no small part to the staggering growth rates China sustained throughout the period.
GC Powerlist: Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand are Oceania’s two largest economies and have strong links beyond a feeling of shared culture and geographical proximity. The two countries enjoy extremely close economic and trading ties underpinned by legislation including the 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement, which allows for free trade in goods and services, while the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement is an informal agreement allowing free movement of citizens between the two countries. Despite these connections, both economies have different vulnerabilities to the winds of global economic change.
Enterprise GC 2016
Tom Sager, former general counsel for DuPont, addressed attendees on day one about the evolution of the GC role from the perspective of someone who drove significant change within his own legal function at DuPont.
Procurement and legal – a perfect storm
There are some things in life that don’t seem quite right when put together: take Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch, everything about Donald Trump and the presidential race, kids and matches, high heels and a nice polished floor. Another awkward anomaly is the procurement department sidling up with in-house legal and attempting to make nice.
GC Powerlist: Mexico
In a world experiencing both economic and political upheaval, North America remains a relative bastion of stability and prosperity globally, with Mexico playing an increasingly important role. Economic growth in particular has been steady, with the International Monetary Fund ranking Mexico as having the 11th highest GDP in the world based on purchasing power parity, and the fifth largest of the ‘emerging markets’ behind China, Brazil, Russia, and India. Trade agreements and a string of key reforms have contributed to the success of the economy, gradually dismantling the perception of Mexico as a third world nation plagued with powerful drug cartels and mass migration to the U.S.
Riding the wave: how engaging with corporate sustainability can help GCs to demonstrate value
GC: Can you tell me about the UN Global Compact and what ‘sustainability’ means for businesses?
Ursula Wynhoven (UW): The Global Compact is the UN’s corporate sustainability initiative. ‘Corporate sustainability’ in this context means the creation of long-term value by businesses in four dimensions: in economic, social, environmental, and ethical or governance terms.
Perfect panelling for the post-public post
Royal Mail is rather like Unilever House, the grand 1930s neoclassical Art Deco building it inhabits on the north side of Blackfriars Bridge. From a distance, it is impressive, monolithic, inspiring nostalgia yet leaving the observer with a twinge of concern about whether such an edifice can survive the ravages of the modern world.
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What 18 years in-house taught me about how to advise clients
In late 1998, I stepped onto the seventh floor of Eleven Madison Avenue in New York City. I was interviewing for a job in the litigation group at Credit Suisse First Boston. At the time, I was an assistant United States attorney, thoroughly enjoying my in-court experience and proud to be representing the U.S. government in the federal trial and appellate courts. But my wife and I were expecting a child and we had just bought a house. It was time to find a job in the private sector.
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