Category: Features

Moving in-house

When I left private practice in 1992 there was a misconception that moving in-house was somehow a second division role, or an area where people could go for a change of lifestyle.  An interesting thing I found was that I was working every bit as hard as when I was in private practice, but actually I resented it less because I could clearly see the purpose and was not being driven by billable hours targets or client retention. Continue reading “What I now know: Keith Ruddock, recently retired general counsel, The Weir Group”

The explosive economic growth of Turkey’s economy, which started in 2001 and peaked between 2002 and 2007 with the establishment of the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, was dubbed by many as the ‘Turkish economic miracle’, as the country emerged from decades of IMF bailouts and political instability. Continue reading “GC Powerlist: Turkey”

We started our discussion, which was held in association with recruiters Mlegal, by considering the big picture – how the roles of the general counsel and the legal team have changed, and what are the most compelling pressures currently. Continue reading “GC Roundtable: Mapping the future GC, Houston”

‘Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.’

So said Warren Buffett. But when it comes to deciding who knows best about enterprise risk, how should a company decide? For some sectors, notably financial services, there might not be much of a choice. Continue reading “Law: a risky business?”

Korin Neff, senior vice president and corporate compliance officer, talks about leadership and development at Wyndham Worldwide. Continue reading “Playing to your strengths: building diversity of thought into business”

First up on the agenda for our discussion was big data. Nick Maltby of Genomics England is general counsel for the 100,000 Genomes Project, a UK government initiative which collects DNA data from patients with rare diseases and cancers. Continue reading “GC Roundtable: the new frontiers of IP, London”

Tim Murphy has worked for MasterCard for 16 years. Starting out as an in-house lawyer, he then spent over ten years in non-legal business roles, serving as president of the US region and chief product officer. In 2014, he stepped back into legal to assume the mantle of general counsel. In the first of a two-part interview, GC catches up with him to hear how working in the business has shaped his vision as GC. Continue reading “Let’s talk business: part one”

Victor Topadze became group legal director at Russian classifieds business Avito in 2012. He saw his team grow from a four-person outfit to a 15-strong department in only two years, as the company transformed from the start-up it was in 2009 to the multibillion dollar company it is today. Continue reading “A different dynamic: managing an expanded legal team”

Incorporating Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, the GC Powerlist: Nordics countries share common history and economic values. With small populations, but open and affluent economies that balance free market capitalism with significant social welfare services, the ‘Nordic model’ represents high living standards with low income disparity. Continue reading “GC Powerlist: Nordics”

‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them’, muses Malvolio, a steward in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the victim of a cruel prank whereby he believes he might be elevated to his mistress’s side as consort. Continue reading “Our great leader: unraveling the process of choosing the right candidate for the top job”