About

Team size: 35
Major law firms used: Addleshaw Goddard, DWF, Eversheds Sutherland, Linklaters, Pinsent Masons

Claire Chapman became chief GC of outsourcing company Capita in mid-2018. She was the company’s first GC and there was no legal team, just lawyers in various parts of the business. Her role primarily focuses on legal risk exposure, liability and governance, but she has also had to build a legal team. ‘It’s involved everything from putting job descriptions in place, to creating a structure, to most importantly designing what the organisation needs from legal to best drive forward on our strategic objectives.’

It is a task she has faced before. Chapman, who featured in the 2016 GC Powerlist, was previously GC and company secretary of Daily Mail and General Trust, where she led the transformation of the company’s legal division as the trust’s first-ever legal executive. She left the media group in 2017 after almost five years.

In addition to building a legal team at Capita – organised as one central group with teams embedded in six operating divisions and a litigation team – Chapman has led a project around developing contract playbooks and training in a drive to make the wider business more self-sufficient, with legal support coming in on key matters and above agreed materiality thresholds. A third area is a panel review, which she expects to complete in early 2019.

Capita has been criticised following a tumultuous few years: chief executive Jon Lewis announced a profit warning and various other measures in early 2018 following an assessment of the company he made after taking over a couple of months previously. It reported a £513m loss for the 2017 financial year. ‘Working efficiently and managing legal risk is key, and showing the value of what lawyers do,’ Chapman says. ‘It’s not just about costs. I’m looking for ways to work smarter.’