United Kingdom 2015: The Team Elite
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Our third annual GC Power List report looks more like a state-of-the profession piece than its two predecessors. While the earlier reports focused on standout individuals, in 2015 we highlight 50 exceptional in-house teams, which inevitably addresses how clients operate.
Even a cursory glance at how these teams have evolved underlines the huge shift that has been taking place in the UK legal profession over the last 15 years: the best in-house legal teams are seizing influence, technical skills and budget, largely from their service providers.
This is particularly notable when it comes to managing their people. High-flying GCs are obsessive about talent and retention. This is largely why they strive to retain interesting work in-house: cost-saving is merely a justification, the primary reason is to motivate and develop their talent with engaging work.
Likewise, expanding in-house teams are using their scale to build formidable industry know-how. A common theme from our research is that law firms are failing to keep up with advances in sector insight at clients.
Even discounting some of the overblown claims about the savviness of GCs as buyers it is clear that bluechips in the UK have become materially more sophisticated purchasers of legal services since the banking crisis.
Successful in-house teams also usually display two related organisational characteristics: firstly an ability to step outside the day-to-day grind to deploy some measure of medium-term thinking and, secondly, develop a co-ordinated approach to building strong links with the business. Failing on these counts is a pretty reliable marker of the teams that struggle.
Those are the common experiences across in-house but huge differences remain between industries (the revenue-per-lawyer range in-house remains startlingly wide even between many comparable businesses). Beyond that it is increasingly obvious that there are two very different dynamics for the in-house profession. GCs working in heavily regulated and contentious sectors have built up vast legal teams interconnected with compliance functions in recent years. Those in less regulated sectors like retail and real estate have maintained surprisingly lean operations. In future, strategic thinking and operational support for in-house may have to more clearly recognise these very different models.
These observations lead to several conclusions. Firstly, these shifts represent an existential challenge to law firms as in-house counsel press their service providers into narrower roles. It’s not clear that law firms have grappled with the troubling implications of this for their business models. And, if we are currently witnessing the glory days for corporate legal teams, as ITV’s Andrew Garard convincingly asserts, then the UK profession is arguably overtaking its US equivalents in terms of sophistication. If true, those are two highly significant trends for the global legal market that will be playing out for years to come.
In the three years we at RPC have been involved with Legal Business’ GC Power List, the shifting sands of the economy have created both threat and opportunity across all sectors, in all jurisdictions; the rise and rise of the regulator has continued unabated; and the issue of enterprise-level risk has established itself firmly at the top of the corporate agenda.
Frightening? Actually, I take that back, it’s exhilarating. We live in interesting times. Interesting times bring interesting challenges. And interesting challenges give the very best people the opportunity to put down a marker and establish themselves as true leaders within their organisations.
And, as this stellar list of the 50 best in-house legal teams in the country shows, the most progressive lawyers are making up a growing number of those leaders. Not just as leaders of their teams but, increasingly, as genuine leaders of their organisations, influencing strategic direction and with a significant voice at the boardroom table.
Jonathan Watmough
Managing Partner
On Tuesday 16th September 2025, Legal 500 returned to Zürich to host the Diversity and Inclusion Forum: Switzerland, in partnership with Schellenberg Wittmer. The event consisted of insightful discussion, focusing on what diversity and inclusion mean in today’s world and how in-house counsel can put these principles into practice. The forum took place at the historic Zunfthaus zur Meisen – notably, the first guild to admit women as members, as was highlighted during the evening.
The evening began with a welcome address from Isabel Caine, Event Content Editor at Legal 500, who spoke to the continued importance of spotlighting diversity and inclusion in the current geopolitical environment – the need to continually apply and reapply, learn and relearn what we know about these topics as organisations adapt to today’s rapidly-changing climate.
Anya George, partner at Schellenberg Wittmer, then took to the stage, echoing these sentiments and highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion to the firm.
Next, Karin de Witt, Director of Ethics, Compliance and Investigations at Lonza, delivered the keynote speech. Her lively and thought-provoking address set the tone for the evening’s discussions.
The first session of the evening, ‘AI in hiring: reducing or reinforcing bias?’, was moderated by Caroline Clemetson, partner at Schellenberg Wittmer. The panel was made up of Nora Rümbeli, Group Head Legal & Compliance Tech, Data & AI and Group DPO at VONTOBEL; Renate Lichtenegger, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Pocket App; Liliana Correia, Legal Counsel and HR Head at Swiss AI AG; and Thomas Schönholzer, General Counsel at The Swiss Post Ltd. The panelists engaged in an animated discussion regarding the pros and cons in-house counsel must consider if using AI to aid the recruitment process, from budget restraints and data protection issues to potential bias and the human element essential to hiring.
In light of recent social and political developments on a global scale, the second panel was entitled ‘Growing pressure on diversity and inclusion programs: balancing company values with compliance’. Moderator George Ayoub, partner at Schellenberg Wittmer, was joined on stage by Sandrine Wait, VP Head Legal Global M&A and Finance at Adecco Group AG; Ingrid Sollerer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer and Executive Committee Member at Sandoz; and Rita Portmann Witmer, Head Legal WM Zurich at BNP Paribas (Zurich Branch). The panel considered how organisations’ diversity and inclusion initiatives may be affected by recent geopolitical changes. The panelists spoke passionately about how in-house counsel can best navigate these circumstances, ensuring that business continues but that employees’ voices are heard and company values are upheld.
The inclusive atmosphere encouraged audience engagement, with attendees posing insightful questions and interacting with the panelists, before Caroline Clemetson rounded off the evening with closing remarks.
Attendees and panelists then continued conversation and networking, while enjoying drinks and canapés. Legal 500 was honored to partner once again with Schellenberg Wittmer to provide a platform for these critical discussions.
