In-house Advisor

Market Standards Trend Report—Trends in UK public M&A in H1 2025 What does the Market Standards Trend Report cover? Click here to get the full report in Shorthand format. In H1 2025, Main Market and AIM companies subject to the Takeover Code (the Code) announced 36 firm offers, 42 possible offers and six notices of formal sale processes and/or strategic reviews; the Market Standards Trend Report examines these in detail. It provides insight on public M&A patterns and what we, together with leading specialists from Addleshaw Goddard, Ashurst, Bird & Bird, Cleary Gottlieb, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Macfarlanes, Paul Weiss and White & Case, expect in H2 2025 and thereafter. H2 2025 outlook Deal values and volumes Transaction structures Unrecommended and rival offers Public to private (P2P) activity Bidder jurisdiction Industry focus Form of...

France’s Data Protection Authority (CNIL) imposed €600,000 penalty on Groupe Canal+, publisher of channels and distributor of pay-television services, for infringing Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 28, 32 and 33 of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU......

Many lawyers will smile knowingly when ‘legal operations’ is mentioned, then quickly change the topic-whether due to uncertainty about what the phrase truly covers or nerves triggered by the prospect of change. This Practice Note seeks to clarify what ‘legal operations’ means, the areas it spans, and how applying legal operations practices-lightly or in depth-can benefit your legal team and your organisation. Alongside this Practice Note, further Practice Notes delve deeper into each aspect of legal operations. They are intended for in-house lawyers who want to secure some of the gains of legal operational efficiency but do not yet have the organisational support or budget for a dedicated legal operations team. Accordingly, these notes are aimed at in-house lawyers working as a small department within small to medium-sized organisations. By contrast, organisations in highly regulated sectors, however small, are likely to need...

In today’s data-driven landscape, if you lead an in-house legal team and are not tracking what the department does, you are missing a trick. The legal function must recognise the value it creates, quantify that value and communicate it across the organisation. Sales uses key performance indicators to evidence its impact, and so do marketing and finance. In the same vein, the in-house legal team should equip itself to understand and demonstrate the value it delivers, the work it undertakes and the outcomes it enables. Of course, that is easier said than done. In-house lawyers often sidestep performance measurement and, as a result, face vague or non-measurable goals handed down without real thought as to whether they can be met. This Practice Note, alongside the Precedent: -step plan, offers practical methods to assess the legal department’s performance and show how the legal team adds value to...

Knowledge management Whatever its scale, a legal department ultimately exists to do legal work: giving legal advice, overseeing disputes, reviewing contracts, and more. From a legal operations viewpoint, as the leader of an in-house team, you must consider how the function can most effectively support the organisation in delivering legal services. You not only have to keep the department running smoothly and business-like; you also need to provide timely, watertight legal advice. The nature of legal knowledge, and where it resides, has expanded markedly. Critical legal information is now created and stored across internal repositories and cloud-based platforms. As an in-house lawyer, it is vital to know what your organisation’s legal data includes, where it is held, and which sources are pertinent for legal purposes. Consequently, knowledge management is a core element of operations management. But what does that actually involve? This Practice Note...

General Item Description Purpose of meeting Introductory session between [ Insert your name ], [ insert your job title ] and [ insert name of Sales and Marketing Director ], Sales and Marketing Director at [ Insert name of organisation ]... Date and time of meeting [ Insert date ] at [ insert time of meeting ] [ am OR pm ]... Attendees [ Insert name of Sales and Marketing Director ] [ Insert your name ] [ [ Insert names of any other invited attendees, eg your line manager ] ] Agenda items Introducing [ insert name of organisation ]’s in-house lawyer Supporting documentation: N/A Person leading item: [ Insert your initials ] Questions: Introduce yourself to the Sales and Marketing Director, outline where you worked previously, and set out why you chose to...

1 Knowledge manager details Firm name [ Insert name ] Role holder’s name [ Insert name ] Reports to [ Insert name ] Employment type ☐ Full-time ☐ Part-time ☐ Contractor If a contractor role, contract length [ Insert details ] Primary location [ Insert location ] Role start date [ Insert date ] Probation period length [ Insert details ] Probation end review date [ Insert date ] 2 Role purpose The Knowledge Manager’s core aim is to champion organisation‑wide sharing of know‑how, information and experience, ensuring these are circulated internally and, where appropriate, with clients, partners and stakeholders outside the organisation. The postholder will design the framework and build the tools necessary to govern the organisation’s knowledge assets. This includes creating and administering standard operating procedures so knowledge management is applied...

This Precedent includes a PowerPoint team brand workshop template with accompanying notes to help you run a session with your team to identify the key activities and values you want your business to be recognised for. It guides you and the group through sharing and refining ideas, then moves into setting concrete actions and clear next steps. 1 Meeting logistics Let the team know in advance that this will be a working session and ask them to consider how they add value to the business, arriving prepared to share their views. Have to hand paper, one pack of sticky notes per person, marker pens for everyone, and a space in the room where items can be put up on the wall. Plan for two and a half hours, including a 15-minute comfort break halfway through (based on five to ten attendees). Appoint someone in the team to help...