Reckitt on hunt for GC after surprise departure
Reckitt Benckiser is on the hunt for a new general counsel after the surprise departure of legal chief Christopher Roberts. Roberts left the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant in September and it is understood that he is yet to take on another position.
December 05, 2007 at 09:18 PM
2 minute read
Reckitt Benckiser is on the hunt for a new general counsel after the surprise departure of legal chief Christopher Roberts.
Roberts left the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant in September and it is understood that he is yet to take on another position.
Reckitt's chief financial officer, Colin Day, has temporarily taken charge of the company's 25-strong legal team as no replacement has yet been appointed. The company is continuing to recruit, however, with a search currently running for a legal director to report to Roberts' successor.
Roberts joined the company in October 2004 from US tech outfit Sybase, where he had held the position of European general counsel since 1999. He replaced general counsel John Guidry, who quit after just one year in the post.
Roberts sat alongside National Grid legal chief Helen Mahy, Barclays general counsel Mark Harding and Reuters general counsel Rosemary Martin on the executive committee of FTSE 100 in-house lobbying group, the GC100.
Advisers to Reckett include Simmons & Simmons and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and primary corporate adviser Slaughter and May.
Freshfields corporate partner Mark Rawlinson led the team advising the household goods company on its £19bn bid for Boots Healthcare International in 2005 after Slaughters was conflicted by acting for Boots.
Reckitt, which counts numerous household consumer products among its brands, has operations in 60 countries and annual revenues of almost £5bn. The company declined to comment on the departure.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Workload and Getting It All Done Top Challenges for In-house Counsel: Survey
4 minute read
Amazon Corporate Counsel in Brussels Returns to US Firm in ‘Boomerang Hire’
2 minute read
Former Miral GC Brings Commercial Insight to BCLP’s Middle East Real Estate Practice
4 minute read
‘A Slave Drivers' Contract’: Evri Legal Director Grilled by MPs
Trending Stories
- 1We the People?
- 2New York-Based Skadden Team Joins White & Case Group in Mexico City for Citigroup Demerger
- 3No Two Wildfires Alike: Lawyers Take Different Legal Strategies in California
- 4Poop-Themed Dog Toy OK as Parody, but Still Tarnished Jack Daniel’s Brand, Court Says
- 5Meet the New President of NY's Association of Trial Court Jurists
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
