Legal and Corporate Governance
The legal and corporate governance market is one that we’ve been placing senior candidates in since the firm was established in 1999.
We know it inside out and we have a reputation for finding General Counsel and corporate governance professionals who really do make a difference. We are proud of our ability to identify and place commercial leaders that can guide organisations through competing stakeholder demands, safeguarding, and business growth. Over 50% of our appointments come from underrepresented groups.
General Counsel
The role of the General Counsel (GC) is a critical position in what is now a complex business environment with increased focus and demands around legal, compliance and corporate governance. General Counsel are expanding their sphere of influence and breadth of remit, pushing into areas such as data security, privacy, and ESG.
We work closely with publicly quoted, private, and private equity backed businesses across a wide range of sectors. Our client base includes global corporates, UK PLCs and the full spectrum of financial services from investment and retail banks to hedge funds, private equity, insurance and asset or fund management.
Alongside our in-house legal search practice, we also support leading law firms with strategic partner hires. Our in-depth knowledge of the private practice legal market means we have direct access to an international network of senior talent.
Our law firm clients often also ask us to carry out due diligence on potential new hires. Our 360 degree feedback process provides independent assurance and the confidence that their decision to hire is the right, or wrong, one. Our due diligence assesses the technical ability, business development skills, management capability and personal attributes of the target candidates, or internal promotion talent.
Chief Governance Officer
Sitting alongside the General Counsel is the role of the Company Secretary, or Chief Governance Officer. A vital role in delivering sustainable business performance; it has emerged from the shadows in recent years to become a critical part of an organisation’s executive team.
As a valuable intermediary between the business and the Board, the Company Secretary, or Chief Governance Officer, is critical to safeguarding the business and driving an enterprise-wide approach to corporate governance.
Leathwaite supports and advises clients within both financial services and corporate businesses to bolster and enhance their company secretarial function at a senior level. We work with a wide range of clients ranging from large global listed entities to small-cap firms, supporting them across Asia, Europe and the UK.
We also help our clients to fill interim senior company secretarial roles and provide data and market mapping analysis.
High quality and high energy team. They did a great job mapping and educating us on the market and delivered an outstanding candidate as part of a diverse shortlist.
