BSkyB
Unsurprisingly, regulatory affairs are crucial for James Conyers’ 17-strong team at BSkyB, including dealing with Ofcom. Competition disputes with other UK broadcasters have been a key feature of the last ten years as well.
ITV
When Andrew Garard arrived at ITV, he immediately set about clearing out the television company’s long list of external legal advisers, sweeping away 36 of the 45 firms. He has spent considerable time choosing high-calibre individuals who are ‘fun and challenging’. The company uses external counsel for M&A, litigation, property, HR, IP and IT and Treasury issues.
Rugby Football Union
‘The ultimate part of my job is arriving at the stadium on an international match day,’ says Karena Vleck, who joined the RFU eight years ago and loves running her team of four.
Siemens
Claire Carless has only been at Siemens for a short time, joining the company in January 2012 and taking the role of GC for North West Europe as well as the UK role last summer. She has a sizeable legal team of 35 lawyers and a compliance team of six, spread across various parts of England. One of her first tasks was to review the legal panel.
Channel 5
Marcus Lee says that the pull of working in the broadcast industry is ‘that it is always evolving – no two days are the same’. However, he adds that its constantly fluctuating nature means it is also an incredibly competitive industry, in terms of acquiring the best content, keeping up with a large variety of platforms and looking at innovative revenue streams while keeping traditional advertisers happy.
Aegis Group
Simon Zinger leads a global legal team of 25 internal lawyers at Aegis Group. This is part of the reason he enjoys his job: he relishes the ability to work and manage a team in an international setting, which is a challenge as the company has to follow the same set of values and objectives across a variety of different cultures.
Network Rail
Suzanne Wise joined Network Rail as general counsel earlier in January 2012.
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.
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.
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.
