Barclays’ Stephanie Hamon joins Norton Rose to launch legal operations consulting practice

Stephanie Hamon talks to Legal IT Insider about her move from Barclays to run the new practice

Norton Rose Fulbright is launching a legal operations consulting practice which will be led by Stephanie Hamon, who joins the firm from Barclays. The practice will provide management and operational advice to inhouse legal teams at major financial institutions and corporates.

The legal operations consulting practice will officially be launched in August and will form part of NRF Transform, the firm’s global change and innovation programme.

Hamon was previously managing director and head of external engagement, legal, at Barclays, where she was responsible for launching an internal survey tool to assess the bank’s external lawyers’ performance.

She believes that inhouse legal teams’ ability to help drive commercial value – and articulate the legal department’s own value to business stakeholders – is becoming increasingly important, driven by advances in legal technology; the new disciplines and organisational approaches being brought by legal operations teams and by an increased focus on extracting maximum return for legal spend.

The new legal operations consulting practice will support clients as they grapple with these changes, helping to provide a practical vision for inhouse legal teams involvement in wider business objectives; advising on legal operations functions and assisting in the delivery of specific projects.

“For me, the most exciting part of Stéphanie’s new practice is that it will get us closer to clients,” said Martin McCann, Norton Rose Fulbright’s global head of business and global sponsor of NRF Transform. “The better we understand our clients’ complete needs, the better we are able to service each aspect of the work we do for them. This will give us maximum insight into clients’ most pressing concerns, and the opportunities to really add value, across all of the work we do.”

“A GC or legal team has two roles,” added Hamon. “First, advising on legal risks and opportunities. Second, supporting their company’s wider objectives as a business partner. There are lots of advisers who help manage legal risk, but very few who help with being an effective business partner.  Through Legal Operations Consulting, supported by the wider Transform program, Norton Rose Fulbright will now do both.”