About

Having joined Amec Foster Wheeler in October 2013, prior to which he was general counsel (MENAT) for GE, Mohamed el Roubi has recently taken on global responsibilities for legal support to the company’s operations across its four business lines, reporting directly to the group general counsel in the United Kingdom. He recalls his significant and successful role in the integration of AMEC and Foster Wheeler’s legal teams: ‘As we acquired FW and integrated a large team of FW lawyers, I aimed to create a consistent model for legal service delivery while maintaining an efficient and lean team, leveraging the incredible talents and common values of the lawyers’. In terms of how el Roubi interacts with the executive management of the business, he is clear that they collaborate extensively and that he shares a ‘fantastic working relationship with the CEO, group GC, senior functional leaders and members of the exec committee’. El Roubi ascribes this excellent partnership to the mutual trust that develops from working on complex matters in a difficult market, and being ‘recognised for being rigorous and robust in my approach to issues management: I don’t just look at the legal side, and always try to look beyond the strict confines of the legal role as much as possible’. He believes all in-house counsel should adopt this approach. ‘One of the worst things a lawyer can do’ he advises, ‘is stay in their box, or accept something isn’t a concern for them because it’s not a legal issue – you are a stakeholder in the business, and should have an opinion on business issues’. El Roubi would like to see greater recognition of the value that this delivers to a business: ‘Hopefully, before too long the view that lawyers should not have an opinion on business matters will no longer be prevalent.’