With this issue of The In-House Lawyer we are unveiling a total overhaul of the magazine first launched over 20 years ago. The title, the first dedicated to the UK’s expanding community of corporate counsel, has long been an important part of the stable of our parent company Legalease, which is committed to expanding its …
Wiggin’s Simon Baggs says online counterfeiting is an exploding global problem but Google is doing nothing about it. Finding counterfeit goods is simple – Google leads you straight to them. These goods are always inferior and sometimes extremely dangerous. Sellers range from small operators selling one or two items using online marketplaces, to larger operators using …
Continue reading “Who is fuelling the counterfeiting fire? The search is on”
PwC Legal’s Stewart Room warns that emerging regimes on data protection and cyber security will present new challenges for GCs. If you’re observing the developing legal environment for cyber security and data protection and just happen to have an interest in star-gazing, you might have an image of a planetary nebula in your mind’s eye, …
Rowan Freeland of Simmons & Simmons scripts an important exchange for corporates Europe-wide. Scene: Headquarters of Plains Plc. The office of The Ostrich, head of business development and licensing. Enter The Meerkat, head of patents
I’m of an age where I form part of a group of lawyers who elected to pursue careers in-house from the outside. I had failed to complete a chemical engineering course so I had a very clear purpose in studying law: I wanted to work in-house. I identified a couple of industries I thought should …
Continue reading “Perspectives: Philip Bramwell, BAE Systems”
As BG Group general counsel, and now executive vice president and GC for Royal Dutch Shell’s upstream business, Tom Melbye Eide has an enviable addition to his CV, considering his lead role in BG’s £47bn acquisition by Shell, the world’s second-biggest energy deal on record, which completed last month.
Richard Tapp argues that GCs can define their companies like never before. ‘So, what do you do?’ A straightforward question – in my case asked by a new chairman, clearly expecting a simple answer. But, for any in-house lawyer, where to start? Do you talk about your legal specialism? About the business risks that you …
Continue reading “The best seat in the house: the unique role of the modern GC”
The investment bank’s EMEA GC on tackling the growth of global regulation and avoiding potholes along the way. There’s a school of thought that says ‘never go back’ to a former lover or job. But having spent eight years at JPMorgan Chase & Co in the 1990s, a phone call from the investment bank’s ‘very …
Stefan Stern argues these days a legal defence alone can prove no defence. Last month the 67th annual oil and gas conference was held by the Center for American and International Law in Houston. Lucky delegates got to hear from a special guest speaker – CFO magazine’s chief financial officer of the year, 2000. The …
Continue reading “Just remember, GCs, Enron thought it was all perfectly legal”
Paul Gilbert argues too many corporate counsel fail to seize the risk agenda. Barclays, Volkswagen and Tesco are three massive businesses in three significant, sophisticated and important business sectors. Each one of these successful and long-lived businesses has access to significant in-house legal expertise, each is capable of paying for the best legal advice money …
Continue reading “GCs have scraped a seat at the table but too many are wasting the opportunity”