Anna Cosgrave: Graze
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The self-confessed fitness freak and head of legal on the allures of in-house law and healthy snacks
Hugh Pugsley: HSBC
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The banking giant’s UK law chief on retaining perspective, understanding your advisers and the value of mentors
Matt Wilson: Uber
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The EMEA legal head of one of the world’s most valuable private companies on sticking along for the ride
Charlotte Heiss: RSA
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How kidnap threats and vodka-fuelled due diligence helped shape the insurance giant’s group legal chief
Martin Cook: Funding Circle
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The London office of peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle is exactly what you would expect from one of the UK’s largest and most high-profile fintech businesses.
Julie Smyth: BAE Systems Air
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‘My husband has virtually no understanding of what I do,’ admits BAE Systems Air chief counsel Julie Smyth. ‘He thinks I sit in meetings all day.’
Profile: Richard Price, Anglo American
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Shortly before Richard Price went in-house as group general counsel and company secretary at Anglo American, the legal team’s headcount was cut in half. This was not coupled with a reduced workload, however. Expectations remained the same.
Daniel Toner, Spire Healthcare
Daniel Toner had done his research. Before an interview to become head of legal at Bupa Hospitals in 2006, he noticed the company had shifted some of its non-hospital assets to a new division. At the interview he asked, tongue-in-cheek, whether Bupa was selling its hospitals division. He was told: ‘Absolutely not. That would never …
Sarah Nelson Smith, Yum! Brands
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In many ways it was ideal preparation. Before embarking on a legal career, Sarah Nelson Smith took a post-law school gap year working as a holiday rep in the popular Greek retreat of Halkidiki. It was an eye-opening experience, figuratively and literally, welcoming holidaymakers at unholy hours and dealing with bizarre questions and gripes.
Rushad Abadan, Standard Life Aberdeen
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Rushad Abadan always knew what he wanted to do with his life. ‘I always fancied the idea of being a lawyer, even at school. I was one of those people who was very clear about their career path early on. Happily for me it worked out.’