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International In-house Counsel Journal logoInternational In-house Counsel Journal logo

The Role of General Counsel in the Public Sector

Abstract

It is imperative that large organisations in the public sector, as well as the private sector, retain at all times a focus on good governance and upon the lawfulness of their actions. However, in periods where significant savings need to be achieved and organisational change delivered, it is even more important that law and governance are at the centre of the organisation. An absence of legal and constitutional input into top tier decision making and discussions leaves Members, Officers and the Local Authority open to risk that could be otherwise mitigated or avoided by early intervention. General Counsel (GC) acts as the authority's “conscience”, as a sounding-board and source of sound judgment on questions in which ethical issues often shade legal determinations. In summary, the GC is the organisation’s navigator when the GPS goes down.

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Author

Portrait image of Geoff Wild
Geoff Wild
Director of Governance & Law, Kent County Council, UK

Director of Governance & Law at Kent County Council, Geoff heads up one of the largest teams of local authority lawyers in the country, with 125 lawyers serving over 600 public sector clients nationwide and generating over £2.5m pa profit. It is designed and managed to run as a fully traded business along private sector lines, whilst retaining a strong public sector ethos. Geoff believes passionately that public sector lawyers should dispel their image as bureaucratic civil servants and display their talents as entrepreneurs to be measured against the best across the whole legal profession. Geoff was named Leader of the Year at the Law Society Awards 2011, where the judges described him as “someone who has made a dynamic contribution to legal services in the public sector.” He was named Legal Industry Pioneer at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards 2012 and 2013, and General Counsel of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2012. He was most recently named the Most Innovative European In-House Lawyer in the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards 2014.

Company

Kent County Council logo

Kent County Council

Kent County Council is one of the largest local authorities in the UK, responsible for governing the non-metropolitan county of Kent. It provides the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The council is responsible for public services such as education, transport, strategic planning, emergency services, social services, public safety and waste disposal.

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