Addressing senior in-house lawyers at a Legal Week forum held last week (19 June), National Grid general counsel Helen Mahy (pictured) and Legal & General head of legal Geoffrey Timms, both non-executive directors with other companies, encouraged other in-house lawyers to follow their lead.
Mahy, who has been on the board of the Aga Rangemaster group for the last five years, said: “We can make extremely good non-executive directors on other boards. We are often overlooked when it comes to non-executive positions.
“We absorb a huge amount of information by osmosis and could contribute quite a lot. It is something that is really good for career development.”
Timms added: “This year I took on a non-executive position on the board of a company that we have minor stake in. They appear to have welcomed the fact that having a lawyer on the board offers a different perspective; in particular, on matters such as risk management.
“I believe it is the way ahead for lawyers and will become very much a growth area.”
However, Mahy warned against general counsel taking up positions on the board of their own employers.
She said: “I do not think in-house counsel should sit on the board. They should sit in board meetings as the trusted adviser. The best thing is to be slightly apart. On occasions you have to tell the board things they do not want to hear.”
The comments come after it emerged that restaurant group Whitbread has appointed Unilever general counsel Stephen Williams as a non-executive director on its board. Williams also holds a non-executive position on the board of transport company Arriva.
