Helen Barker
Counsel for Knowledge Management, Diageo
Helen Barker is Counsel for Knowledge Management at Diageo plc, which has 125 lawyers based in 21 different markets worldwide. She launched the global legal team’s new know-how system, Legalpedia in the summer of 2015 and is responsible for the continuing development of standard form agreements, know-how and the overall system. In addition, she is responsible for developing the programme of internal capability training for Diageo’s lawyers.
Francesca Coupe
Employment Lawyer at British Airways, BA
Francesca joined British airways recently as an Employment Lawyer. Previously she worked as a Legal Counsel in O2 (Telefónica UK) for nearly 3 years and before that she was an Employment Solicitor in DWF for 2 years.
Claire Debney
Chief of Staff and Director of Legal Strategy at Shire Co-founder of Mosaic
Claire was appointed Chief of Staff and Director of Legal Strategy at Shire in July 2016; a newly created role focusing on operational excellence through learning, development, communications and optimizing systems and processes for the Shire legal team.
Prior to her role at Shire, Claire spent ten years at Reckitt Benckiser (RB) where she was, most recently, VP General Counsel for Group Legal Affairs & Compliance. Claire joined RB from Gillette/P&G in 2006 as European General Counsel. At RB she managed complex legal matters across a wide range of functions globally, with responsibility for major investigations, litigation, compliance and the Group's corporate and commercial operations.
She created i-Legal, the award-winning portal that utilised technology and tools to enhance the delivery of in-house legal services, as well as building a bespoke leadership program, The Academy, for RB’s Legal Department.
Matthew Gasser
Legal Director and Company secretary, BNP Paribas
Matthew is Legal Director & Company Secretary for BNP Paribas Real Estate UK. He joined the company in 2007, having previously trained with and worked for Thales UK. In addition to managing the UK Legal team, Matthew is Company Secretary for BNP Paribas Real Estate in the UK and its various subsidiaries. He also has responsibility for its insurance programmes.
Alistair Hillier
Senior Business Affairs Manager, ITV PLC
Alistair began working at ITV in 2005 and has built his knowledge of the television industry through time spent in ITV's broadcasting division, negotiating contracts and providing support to ITV's regulatory team, and in the production divisions of ITV's breakfast and sport production teams.
Steven Jebb
Head of Legal – Technology, Legal Innovation, Knowledge & Excellence, Vodafone
Steven is an experienced commercial lawyer, currently heading up 2 teams within the Vodafone Group Legal function: (1) Group Legal Technology - a supplier facing contracting team specialising in complex technology projects; and (2) Legal Innovation, Knowledge & Excellence (LIKE) – a team dedicated to creating a vibrant knowledge sharing and innovation culture across the 35+ teams that form part of the Vodafone global legal community. Uniquely, Steven is a member of the management team for both the Vodafone Group Legal Volume Contracts team and the Vodafone Group Enterprise Legal team, giving him a vantage point over both the supplier and customer facing contracting worlds.
Steven has a passion for legal transformation and the focus of his attention at Vodafone for the last 5 years has been on increasing legal efficiency through improvement of templates & playbooks, introduction of self service tools to the business, panel firm management, workflow management, the creation of nearshore and offshore delivery centres and the drive to digitalisation. Steven and the LIKE team are currently rolling out a Legal Innovation Hub across the Vodafone global legal community.
Before moving in-house in 2005, Steven was a partner at Osborne Clarke, heading up the M&A team in its Thames Valley Office.
Susan Jones
Senior Legal Counsel, Pearson Education
Sue qualified as a solicitor in 1992 having completed her training at Allen & Overy. She went on to work as an assistant solicitor in the Music Department of Harbottle & Lewis before moving in-house to EMI Music Publishing. Sue joined Pearson Education in 2008 and works as a general commercial lawyer with an interest in creating templates and disseminating know how amongst legal colleagues.
Jessica Magnusson
Global Head of Legal Knowledge, HSBC
Jessica is the Global Head of Legal Knowledge at HSBC for the last two years. Prior to this role she worked as the Head of Knowledge Development at Osborne Clarke for 3 years and Baker & McKenzie LLP for nearly 10 years.
Barry Matthews
Director of Legal Affairs, Commercial and Online, ITV PLC
Barry trained and qualified at Hogan Lovells and has held numerous roles at ITV. He is currently the Director of Legal Affairs and Third Party Sales with responsibility for two divisional legal teams covering all UK commercial, global pay TV distribution and online legal matters; he also overseas advertising content compliance and ITV’s third party sales representation business in the UK and ROI. He sits on the board of BCAP and Clearcast and is a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Education and Training Board Committee. He has a passion for diversity in the legal profession and to this end created the Legal Social Mobility Partnership which comprises over 30 law firm and in-house partners delivering work insight and skills training to over 100 state school 6th form students annually in London and the regions.
Alison Neil
Knowledge, Learning and Development Capability Manager, Accenture
Alison is an experienced commercial lawyer and passionate L&D professional with experience of working in academia, the media sector and the technology industry. Innovative thinker with qualifications in business psychology and experience in leadership development, instructional design and legal/compliance training. She is currently the Knowledge, Learning and Development Capability Manager responsible for setting strategy for training, professional development and knowledge management for the Accenture Legal group on a global basis. Prior to this role she was working in the legal division of BBC as a Learning and Development Manager for two and a half years.
Rachael Nicol
Legal Counsel – Sales and Service, Telefonica
Misha Patel
Solicitor and Managing Legal Counsel, KPMG
Misha Patel is the Assistant General Counsel at accountancy and advisory firm KPMG since March 2011. She was a senior associate corporate finance lawyer at Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance before joining the Office of General Counsel team at KPMG. She has previously advised blue-chip companies including ABN, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Accenture as well as a range of other corporate and private equity houses. Misha continues to work on big ticket M&A as well as a myriad of other in-house legal matters at KPMG and her remit covers not only the UK and European matters but also the firm's wider international operations.
In 2011 Misha was named in Management Today's 35 under 35 list, which features "high-flying" business women, and the Square Mile magazine's 30 under 30 for Law. In 2010 she was on the Real Business shortlist for the Women of the Future awards and was named by the Financial News as a "rising star" in the City.
Emma Pearce
Senior Solicitor: Technology Group Legal - Procurement & Networks, Vodafone
Emma is Senior Legal Counsel specialising in IT and commercial law with private practice and blue chip in-house experience. Emma provides legal advice and contract support in relation to: (i)technology projects; (ii) procurement projects; and (iii) developing technology, collaborative activities, technology licensing, solution evaluations and trials as part of Vodafone Group Legal’s Technology legal team, advising on major IT and procurement transactions. Emma also works: (i) alongside Vodafone's Legal Innovation, Knowledge & Excellence team in a re-engineering role, driving a transformation agenda to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of legal support; (ii) as Panel Manager for the Vodafone Group/UK Legal Panel; and (iii) in a knowledge management and learning & development role for the benefit of the Vodafone global legal community.
Dom Pickersgill
General Counsel, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
General Counsel at the Institution of Engineering and Technology
Dom moved in-house after a private practice career in the corporate finance teams at Taylor Vinters LLP and Eversheds LLP. Dom is the IET’s first General Counsel. His work covers a variety of disciplines. Prior to joining the IET, Dom was in-house at BPP Professional Education and Hamilton Bradshaw Limited. Dom is a member of the Law Society’s In-House Committee.
Katharine Ward
Head of Training, Quality and Knowledge Management – Customer Operations, Thames Water
Katharine has 20 years’ experience in information and knowledge management with a range of organisations and professional service firms in both her native Australia and the UK. She is a specialist in legal information and knowledge management, research, learning and development and delivery of practical and pragmatic solutions. In April 2016 she joined Thames Water as the Head of Training, Quality and Knowledge. Prior to this role Katharine worked at Vodafone for 10 years, firstly running the global market intelligence programme, then within the global legal function as Senior Legal Knowledge Manager.