What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?  

The legal team has been involved in a number of corporate and strategic transactions recently, including, the sale of several businesses across the portfolio in France, Italy and Poland. We have also been involved with a number of significant capital returns through share buybacks and a Bshare scheme; as well as new product launches including Aviva Zero, our carbon-conscious car insurance.
 

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years? 

I believe a key development will be the use of Artificial Intelligence and technology more generally. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the work of the general counsel and the wider team and if it provides the counsel opportunities to focus on more on strategic activities.
 

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?  

Sustainability is a key pillar of our strategy, and our sustainability ambition is focused on three core areas: acting on climate change, building stronger, more resilient communities and embedding sustainability into our business. In my role as general counsel, I lead our sustainable business working group which covers a range of areas including diversity and inclusion and ensures appropriate ESG governance is embedded into our decision-making processes.
 

As the legal landscape evolves, what steps are you taking to foster a culture of continuous learning and development within the legal team, ensuring that they are all well-equipped to address future legal complexities? 

As the legal landscape evolves fostering a culture of continuous learning and development is vitally important. To support this, we run a comprehensive internal training programme across the team which includes specific technical training as well as training in other important skills, such as presenting, influencing, and coaching. To deliver this training we have collaborated closely with our external legal partners who have been extremely supportive.