About

Former Dechert LLP partner Brennan Torregrossa first opened up to the possibilities of working in-house when he was seconded to a different pharmaceutical in a major product liability case. ‘I really never until that moment considered moving in-house because I loved the courtroom so much,’ he says. ‘What really surprised me was the creativity of the job. It was also great to have some goal each day which was bigger and broader than winning a piece of litigation’. Torregrossa has in fact made curtailing litigation a major focus during his time at GlaxoSmithKline. With the support of his general counsel, he implemented two innovative training programs within the company: an early case assessment program (MASTER) and a negotiation for lawyers program (NESTOR). ‘A lot of companies try to avoid and end law suits – MASTER is an attempt to change corporate culture,’ he explains. On NESTOR, he says: ‘Lawyers tend to think they are good negotiators but they may not be’. Such was the universal relevance of NESTOR, it has been applied not just to the legal function but to the wider business. ‘Negotiation is something we all do every day – if we can get better negotiators we can get better results’.