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International Edition

BAA signs up Amey legal chief as new GC

BAA has appointed a new general counsel, with Carol Hui taking up the role. Hui joins from construction giant Amey, where she had been general counsel and executive director for nine years. Prior to that, Hui was part of the in-house legal teams at British Gas and TDG. She launched her legal career with Slaughter and May in Hong Kong as a member of the firm's corporate finance department.The destination of Hui's predecessor as BAA GC, Robert Herga, is as yet unconfirmed.
2 minute read

International Edition

BA general counsel set to step down from role

High-profile British Airways (BA) general counsel Robert Webb QC is stepping down after 10 years in the role, with his responsibilities set to be spilt into two jobs. Webb - who joined BA in 1998 and most recently represented the airline in its ongoing price-fixing dispute - is set to step down at the end of March.Webb, who was called to the Bar in 1971 and made QC in 1988 when he became 5 Bell Yard's head of chambers, will now look to extend his non-executive roles. He already sits as a non-executive director at the BBC and the London Stock Exchange.
2 minute read

International Edition

Better late than never

Clients have for years been calling for their advisers to keep a closer eye on costs. And then, all of a sudden, their wish has been granted as City law firms have unleashed a barrage of cost-slashing measures barely into 2009 as they move to respond to the current recession. The most eye-catching of these has been Allen & Overy's (A&O's) multi-pronged shake-up - the most sweeping to date. Announced on 19 February, the programme, described in these pages as "the kitchen sink solution", halts assistant salary rises and sets in motion plans to reduce lawyer head count by 9%. It also sees A&O become the only UK firm to date to publicly commit to freeze billing rates - a move that naturally caught the eyes of in-house lawyers. However, while general counsel contacted by Legal Week generally welcomed the move, they weren't getting too carried away.
5 minute read

International Edition

Genworth Financial European in-house legal team grows to 22 lawyers

Genworth Financial is set to boost its in-house legal team with plans to expand capacity in Europe and review its outside counsel. The US insurance company is looking to add a commercial lawyer in Italy and a compliance specialist in Scandinavia, with one further lawyer set to join from GE Capital. The hires, which will take the team from 19 lawyers to 22 - including 10 in the UK - follow the January appointments of Miguel Munoz Gaztanaga from Lovells in Spain and Guillaume Lachaud in France.
2 minute read

International Edition

Treasury lawyers facing deluge

There is at least one law office that still has more transactional work than it can handle.Since October, lawyers at the Treasury Department's Office of General Counsel have completed $306bn (£214bn) worth of deal work stemming from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). In a few short months, they have closed 418 separate transactions with financial institutions receiving funding under TARP's capital purchase programme.The work marks an unprecedented transformation for the office, which traditionally focuses on supplying policy advice and interpreting law for Treasury's other divisions. Now, its lawyers say their responsibilities more closely resemble those of a corporate transactional law shop.
6 minute read

International Edition

HSBC offshore legal team in Malaysia gets go-ahead

HSBC has established an offshore legal team in Malaysia following a successful pilot scheme last year.The bank piloted the scheme last February, sending a team of four lawyers to its global service centre in Kuala Lumpur to assist the team in the UK, with the Malaysian group largely dealing with volume legal queries.Following the trial, the bank is establishing a permanent team based in the region, with five additional lawyers joining the function. The bank is one of the first financial institutions to establish an offshore legal team.
2 minute read

International Edition

TfL legal staff set for cuts in cost-saving move

Transport for London (TfL) is poised to make efficiency savings which could see a number of its legal staff made redundant. The organisation's 10-year business plan, launched last year with the aim of saving more than £2.4bn, could see members of the legal division lose their jobs.TfL's legal arm, which is led by general counsel Howard Carter, currently has 43 members of staff. In addition, TfL entities London Underground (LU) and Crossrail have separate legal divisions, numbering 66 and three staff respectively. It has been reported that the job losses across TfL as a whole are expected to reach 1,000.
2 minute read

International Edition

FSA signals intent with prosecutions budget hike

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has boosted funds available for future criminal prosecutions in its budget for 2009-10. The regulatory body has increased its contingency fund - which includes an allowance for external legal costs if it chooses to prosecute major criminal cases - to £13.5m to act as an allowance for future prosecutions. The allocated funds comes out of the FSA's corporate services and board budget, which has seen a 67% increase on last year, from £47.2m to £79m. In 2007, the FSA launched its first criminal prosecution for insider trading against former TTP Communications general counsel Christopher McQuoid.
2 minute read

International Edition

Media darling

With his thick-rimmed designer glasses and close-cropped hair, AOL international general counsel Tony Wales does not look like a lawyer. And, as he talks animatedly with a slight Brummie accent about 'brand value' and 'social networking verticals', neither does he sound like one.
5 minute read

International Edition

DLA, Pinsents win Glasgow Council panel places

Glasgow City Council has completed a review of its legal advisers, with DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons winning major instructions from the organisation. The new roster has been split into nine sub-panels covering the council's key work areas and is set to deliver cost savings of 5%-10% in comparison with the previous roster.DLA Piper has landed instructions on six of the firm's nine sub-panels, including general corporate, construction and planning, while Pinsent Masons and McGrigors have also been handed multiple roles on the new roster.
3 minute read

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