Former BP lawyer takes over at retail giant

Tesco is set to review its external advisers in the new year as part of a shake-up of the retail giant's in-house legal function led by its new general counsel (GC).

Adrian Morris – who joined Tesco as GC in September this year from BP, where he was assistant GC – will review the company's external law firm relationships in early 2013, with the creation of a law firm panel one option under consideration.

Tesco's current primary advisers include Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. 

Morris is to visit many of the retailer's international offices over the coming months to meet local in-house teams and ensure each meets Tesco's regional legal needs following a spate of expansion in countries such as Thailand and South Korea.

He has also been charged with recruiting a new China legal head to take over from former BLP chairman Peter Robinson, who has been seconded to Tesco in Shanghai as acting head until February next year. The company has around 40 lawyers in China.

Morris has joined Tesco ahead of the departure of corporate and legal affairs director Lucy Neville-Rolfe, who is retiring in January 2013 after more than 15 years at the company. Group general counsel Alan Porter also left earlier this year to join Prudential as group company secretary, replacing Margaret Coltman.

Morris said: "There are not many group GC opportunities in the top FTSE companies, so this was a fantastic role for me to take up. Tesco is going through a transformation right now, improving the shopping trip for customers and growing its presence as a multi-channel retailer in an increasingly online world. 

"This certainly means a shift in the group's focus and the legal team is already rising to that challenge across all of our businesses and markets."

Tesco has undergone significant international growth and top-level management changes over the last two years, including the hire of several new regional legal heads to oversee the fast-growing business.

Sarah Gallagher, former director of commercial legal services for Irish telecoms company Eircom, joined the supermarket chain as head of legal for the Republic of Ireland in August this year, while the company has also recruited regional legal heads in Hungary, South Korea and Turkey over the last 18 months.

Tesco has approximately 200 lawyers in its legal function around the world, including 57 in the UK. The retailer posted group sales of £72bn for 2011-12, with the majority of revenues coming from the UK at £42.8bn, followed by £10.8bn from Asia.

Click here for a Tesco client profile from Legal Week Reports.