The Legal Director—four appointments

Growing law firm The Legal Director has welcomed four in-house lawyers into the fold since the start of this year. The firm, which provides SMEs with highly experienced general counsel on a flexible basis, has seen consistent growth since its inception in 2009 and now has a bench of over 40 in-house lawyers.

Philip White, Stephen Britt, Karima Fahmy and Andrew Magowan bring with them a combined 90 years of legal experience.

Philip White joins from Lockton Companies, where he was Deputy General Counsel. Philip is a commercial and regulatory lawyer with over 25 years of General Counsel experience gained in private practice and in-house with insurers, brokers and technology companies. He has worked with executive management teams in both International FTSE and private, private equity backed, and entrepreneurial Insuretech organisations in the UK, EEA and other international jurisdictions.

Stephen Britt was previously a Consultant Solicitor with Illume Legal and has been General Counsel and Company Secretary to financial services businesses for over 25 years. These have included start-ups, venture capital backed entities and quoted multi-nationals, and his responsibilities have been equally wide ranging, including commercial agreements, corporate affairs, M&A, HR issues, litigation and regulatory affairs.

Karima Fahmy (pictured) was GC at Grosvenor Estates and is a Non-Executive Director at Clarion Housing Group. She combines extensive corporate transactional experience with strategic business leadership. Karima has broad international experience in sectors ranging from Real Estate, Energy & Infrastructure, TMT and Banking and brings operational experience in legal & compliance oversight, risk management and talent & succession management.

Andrew Magowan joins from Berry Bros. & Rudd, where he was General Counsel and Director of Sustainability. Andrew has extensive cross-business and broad industry experience, particularly in companies that are growing globally from a UK base. He is highly experienced in pretty much anything “commercial”, with an exceptional understanding of where value really lies that delivers innovative, tailored, effective legal, risk & reputation management, compliance and corporate governance.

Ed Simpson, CEO of The Legal Director, said: 'We’re thrilled to welcome such a strong and experienced group of general counsel to The Legal Director in the first quarter of 2023. And we hope to continue this growth trajectory for the rest of the year – we’re certainly seeing more in-house counsel looking for the variety and flexibility our model offers and with an increasingly complex and unpredictable outlook, growing businesses are crying out for quality legal advice.'

Speaking about his decision to join The Legal Director, Phil said: 'Several things attracted me to the TLD idea: first, it's an opportunity to help SMEs gain access to the same highly experienced "business side" legal counsel which their larger corporate brethren enjoy; and secondly, the chance to work in more diverse and interesting businesses where I know this help will be so appreciated.'

Stephen added: 'TLD gives me the opportunity to provide practical, business oriented legal advice to a diverse range of SMEs while also having the flexibility to choose when, where and even how much I work.  Together with the comprehensive training and support TLD provides, the enthusiasm of everyone I’ve met and the genuine camaraderie amongst the lawyers, TLD is the perfect place for any senior business lawyer who wants to take charge of their life and career.'