Sainsbury’s
Nick Grant created the Sainsbury’s Legal Community in 2011, which involves multiple firms collaborating to provide advice. Thirteen firms carry out 99% of Sainsbury’s externally sourced legal work, including Linklaters, Addleshaw Goddard, SNR Denton and Bond Dickinson.
International Group of P&I Clubs
As executive officer of International Group of P&I Clubs since 2006, Andrew Bardot is secretary of a body that insures 90% of the world’s oceangoing fleet. One private practitioner describes him as ‘one of the top private practitioners looking at things from the other side of the fence. After 25 years in private practice, he provides a very good perspective’.
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Associated British Ports
Andrew Garner heads the legal division of Britain’s largest port operator. He was appointed in 2005, and successfully navigated Associated British Ports through a multibillion-pound takeover in 2006 by a consortium of private investors, which included Goldman Sachs and Prudential.
easyJet
Andrew Winterton’s team advises on a host of contentious and non-contentious matters, ranging from M&A and competition to contract and consumer law. He manages the panel of UK-based legal advisers but also uses local firms in other jurisdictions, forming mini panels in countries where easyJet has a registered presence.
Stagecoach UK Bus & Rail Group
Andrew Levy’s small legal team advises Stagecoach across its three main divisions, which account for 12% of the UK rail market, 20% of the UK bus market and a coach business across both sides of the Atlantic.
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Transport for London
Transport for London’s general counsel, Howard Carter, deals with a broad range of legal issues from large commercial projects and property to employment, public law and disputes. Heading a team of 75 lawyers, he effectively runs a full-service firm, located at TfL’s Windsor House HQ in central London.
DHL
As head of legal at DHL since 2006, Keith Austin leads a team of 30 lawyers across seven countries spanning Europe and the Middle East. He particularly enjoys ‘supporting a team which consistently achieves great employee opinion survey results, which reflect the way we provide legal services to the business’.
Heathrow
Carol Hui heads a team of 12 lawyers and four secondees taken from some of Heathrow’s seven panel firms, firms that are mainly used for M&A deals, bond issues and major litigation. Heathrow is currently in the process of disposing of Stansted Airport, and is using Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith Freehills.
DVB Bank
Kevin Bourque leads the legal team at DVB Bank, which specialises in financing transport assets. With an external legal spend of between £20m and £40m he is sole in-house counsel but has four secondees from his law firm panel.
Civil Aviation Authority
Kate Staples’ industry experience is broad and extensive: she joined the Civil Aviation Authority as general counsel and secretary in September 2010. Previously, she earned her stripes at the Department for Transport, with roles including head of aviation legal from May 2006, and head of railways legal.
Network Rail
Suzanne Wise joined Network Rail as general counsel earlier in January 2012.
International Power
After eight years with SUEZ, there is no doubt that François Graux has earned his stripes. He has steered the company through mergers with Gaz de France in 2008 and then 2012’s tie-up with International Power, which saw it become part of the world’s largest independent utility company.
Hammerson
Described as ‘straightforward to deal with’, Sarah Booth doesn’t have much back up at Hammerson. In fact, she is the entire resource – the only lawyer in a company of roughly 300 people. She is proof of the importance of having good relationships with general counsel because these days she doesn’t have the time to handle all the work in-house, something she always used to do before.
Legal & General Property
Katherine Laurenson is a self-confessed ‘deal junkie’ and has carved out a particular niche advising on all aspects of fund structuring for Legal & General Property. It currently has over £10bn of assets under management, making it one of the UK’s largest institutional property fund managers.
The Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a UK property business, governed by an Act of Parliament, that funnels all of its profits into HM Treasury, totalling around £2bn over the past ten years. Vivienne King has been in the top legal job at The Crown Estate since 2007.
Lloyds Banking Group
One of the City’s most high-profile general counsel, Lesley Wan has led the real estate legal team at Lloyds Banking Group for six years.
Qatari Diar
Projects and construction partner Andrew Walsh joined Qatari Diar as acting general counsel from Speechly Bircham, where he was a partner. He was on secondment to Qatari Diar when he was offered the in-house role permanently in March 2011.
Grosvenor
Ulrike Schwarz-Runer joined Grosvenor as general counsel in 2010 and is currently overseeing some major changes within her legal department, particularly mooting the possibility of having a formal law firm panel.
SEGRO
Elizabeth Blease has been general counsel of industrial property owner and developer SEGRO since 2008.
Jones Lang LaSalle
Nicolas Taylor has been general counsel at Jones Lang LaSalle for eight years and manages a team of 20 lawyers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and praises the ‘fantastic team culture’ at the real estate services company.
