Rio Tinto, perth operations centre. Copyright © 2018 Rio Tinto. Photo: Christian SprogoeMining Firm Rio Tinto Strikes Gold With New General Counsel
Barbara Levi Mager is a longtime in-house leader for Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis International AG and Sandoz, a division of Novartis. She begins her new job at Rio Tinto on Jan. 1, following the retirement of the company's current chief lawyer.
July 03, 2019 at 01:02 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
With its top lawyer poised to step down at the end of the year, global mining company Rio Tinto has tapped Barbara Levi Mager to take the reins of the London-based firm's legal department.
Mager is a longtime in-house leader for Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis International AG and Sandoz, a division of Novartis. She begins her new job at Rio Tinto on January 1, 2020, following the retirement of the company's current chief lawyer, Philip Richards.
Barbara Levi Mager of Sandoz.
Rio Tinto is among the world's largest mining and metal companies. Its major products include aluminium, copper, diamonds, gold, industrial minerals, iron ore and uranium.
CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques said in a prepared statement that Richards, who joined Rio Tinto in April 2017, "has driven some significant improvements across governance and compliance, which have strengthened our business".
Jacques also trumpeted Mager's "extensive legal experience across corporate, commercial and compliance matters gained within a complex multinational organisation", which he said "makes her an ideal choice to lead Rio Tinto's legal and compliance team".
Following a stint at several New York law firms, in 2004 Mager joined Sandoz, a division of Novartis headquartered in Vienna, as legal counsel and deputy global compliance officer, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She ascended the firm's ranks and was named general counsel and global head of legal for Sandoz in 2016, and group legal head of mergers and acquisitions and strategic transactions for Novartis International in February. As GC of Sandoz, she oversees general legal affairs, intellectual property and compliance issues, along with more than 250 legal associates throughout the world.
In a Q&A published last year by The American Lawyer, Mager revealed that she experienced gender bias early in her career when she was in private practice. After having spent weeks preparing for an important meeting, she said she entered the room and was asked to get coffee for the "most senior guy".
"I got him the coffee but I felt so humiliated that the only thing I knew was that it would never happen again. What that meeting taught me is confidence and not to allow anyone to put me into a box," she said.
When asked to give advice to young lawyers aspiring to become in-house leaders, she said: "Love what you do. Work hard. Don't put limits on yourself."
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
© 2024 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
A&O Shearman, Hogan Lovells & 10 Top Stories That Shaped Africa in 2024
4 minute read
Borden Ladner Gervais Cyber Expert Warns of Growing Threats From AI-Boosted Ransomware Attacks
3 minute read
Baker & Partners, LCWP Lead on $1B Fraud Claim by Malaysia's 1MDB Against Amicorp
Trending Stories
- 1'Largest Retail Data Breach in History'? Hot Topic and Affiliated Brands Sued for Alleged Failure to Prevent Data Breach Linked to Snowflake Software
- 2Former President of New York State Bar, and the New York Bar Foundation, Dies As He Entered 70th Year as Attorney
- 3Legal Advocates in Uproar Upon Release of Footage Showing CO's Beat Black Inmate Before His Death
- 4Longtime Baker & Hostetler Partner, Former White House Counsel David Rivkin Dies at 68
- 5Court System Seeks Public Comment on E-Filing for Annual Report
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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
