Unperturbed by the somewhat damp weather conditions, the great and the good of the in-house community flocked to Enterprise GC and Syon House in April to enjoy a variety of stimulating plenary sessions, workshops, keynote speeches and roundtables, not to mention a glittering gala dinner in the great conservatory.
Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business and The In-House Lawyer: Is it an oversimplification to say that inflationary pressure, if it eases, will kick-start M&A again? Eric Knai, Eversheds Sutherland: We have been having a lot of discussions with our clients but also with investment bankers, bankers and economists. They say that inflation is a factor, but …
Continue reading “Wrestling the bear – negotiating deals in the current market”
Litigation is increasing as ESG commitments and promises come under increasing scrutiny from activists, consumers and investors. It is a trajectory that will increase upwards, with the introduction of more ESG-related regulation and the proposed extension of the ‘failure to prevent’ remit. In this roundtable, we asked some of the UK’s most prominent in-house lawyers …
Douglas Alexander, Pinsent Masons: I will first contextualise and attempt to define ‘soft power’ because, it is more often discussed than defined, and in that sense, I should probably declare an interest. In addition to many roles I hold, I have been a senior fellow at the Belfer Center in the Kennedy School of Government …
Continue reading “The Corporate diplomat: Debating the value of hard power vs soft power as a GC”
In-house course helps career-break lawyers re-enter profession The Centre for Legal Leadership and Reignite Academy joined forces to run a one-day course for ‘career break’ lawyers seeking to re-enter the legal profession in an in-house role. The course took place on 2 May in RPC’s office in London, and covered five different modules: the myths …
The insurance litigation world promises to be a busy one in 2023; an uptick in interest across novel areas – particularly ESG and technology – combined with the squeeze of an economic downturn provides the dramatic backdrop to a period which is likely to see a huge amount of activity.
One of the greatest challenges that in-house legal teams confront from a data protection and cyber security perspective is staying up to date with trends and threats that seem to develop at an almost exponential rate. DLA Piper’s data protection and cyber security specialist Ross McKean explains: ‘Life was relatively simple in the early days …
The struggle to remain up to date with new developments, to identify and stop the spread of harmful information and protect against increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks can feel daunting and unrelenting. For in-house legal teams, though, a range of tools and strategies are available to help regain and retain control.
In 2020, Teva Pharmaceuticals conducted a law firm selection process unprecedented in scale and sophistication within the profession (see ‘On notice: Teva’s entire $330m legal spend could go to one law firm’, The Legal 500, Summer 2019).
Terra Potter (whose middle name is Cotta – IHL has seen the proof) proudly proclaims on LinkedIn that she originally hails from a cornfield outside Chicago and, while many lawyers claim to have had an unconventional path into a legal career, hers has been more so than most. Growing up in Rochelle, Illinois, she started …
In recent times celebrity high profile litigation across the globe has taken place with actors, Gwyneth Paltrow’s successful defence of a claim arising from a ski collision on the slopes of Utah, and Jonny Depp winning his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, though losing an earlier case in London against UK newspapers in 2018. Such …
Continue reading “Reputation management and disputes: avoiding an avalanche of scrutiny”
Bermuda is a leading re/insurance jurisdiction and continues to be a global leader in innovative risk transfer solutions, including ILS, climate risk finance and insurtech. In keeping with other jurisdictions Bermuda’s (re)insurance legal and regulatory environment continues to develop responsibly, to protect consumers while also supporting the industry and facilitating the continued development of new, …