Do you ever get the feeling you’re flying blind as a general counsel? Not in the context of your own business, which will generate reams of numbers and facts to indicate how the legal function is performing within that one company. But in the context of how GCs and legal teams are developing at a …
The High Court judgment in Essar Oilfields Services Ltd v Norscot Rig Management Pvt Ltd [2016] was brought down by His Honour Judge Waksman QC (sitting as a deputy High Court judge). The report of its delivery on 15 September 2016 had already sparked great interest in the world of litigation finance and for good …
A recent case in the High Court provides a helpful analysis as to the scope of directors’ duties in situations where dividend payments are vulnerable to challenge. It proves a cautionary tale to directors who are considering the payment of intergroup dividends and illustrates how the legal issues surrounding this area are complex and need …
Continue reading “Dividends and directors’ duties – case update”
The ‘marine renewables’ sector is increasingly of interest to contractors. There are a number of reasons for this. For some, fewer opportunities exist within the oil and gas sector. Other see the increased number of offshore wind projects as an opportunity. In both instances, it is clear that the growth in marine renewables projects will …
Do you ever get the feeling you’re flying blind as a general counsel? Not in the context of your own business, which will generate reams of numbers and facts to indicate how the legal function is performing within that one company. But in the context of how GCs and legal teams are developing at a …
Energy giant pushes through alt billing The march away from hourly billing continues as Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s largest consumers of legal services, confirmed that all its work must be priced under ‘appropriate’ fee arrangements (AFAs), following its 2016 panel review. AFAs, which include capped, fixed and contingency fees, had been in …
Paul Gilbert attempts to chart what is so rarely discussed: the core competences and obligations of a general counsel. At the risk of saying something that sounds unhelpfully like, ‘general counsel means general counsel’, I have spent a lot of time over many years considering how people in this role should define their purpose and …
Stefan Stern assesses a new book on how institutional weaknesses let corporate risk wreak havoc. If you found the events of 2016 unsettling you may wish to look away now. For the foreseeable future. Brexit means Brexit, apparently, but no-one seems able to provide much more detail than that as yet. A new US president …
Continue reading “‘Crisis accumulates for years’ – a fascinating insight into the roots of risk”
‘I would never have taken a role where I wasn’t sitting at the top table. I make sure I have influence in how a firm goes about things,’ notes veteran litigator Margaret Cole, PwC’s UK general counsel and chief risk officer.
Catherine McGregor: Lawyers get very focused on their professional qualifications, but as they rise through the ranks – particularly to the general counsel position – their role becomes increasingly focused on management. A common concern we hear is that they feel ill-equipped to deal with this shift. There can also be a desire not to …