Claire is a former senior in-house counsel and executive with extensive global experience.
Claire was appointed Chief of Staff to the General Counsel and Head of Legal Strategy at Shire in July 2016; a newly created role focusing on operational excellence through learning, development, communications and optimizing systems and processes for the Shire legal team.
Prior to her role at Shire, Claire spent ten years at Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a FTSE 15 company, where she was, most recently, VP General Counsel for Group Legal Affairs & Compliance. Claire joined RB from Fortune 100 US Company Gillette (now part of P&G) in 2006 as European General Counsel. At RB she managed complex legal matters across a wide range of functions globally, with responsibility for major investigations, litigation, compliance and the Group's corporate and commercial operations. She created i-Legal, a self-service portal that utilized technology and tools to enhance the delivery of in-house legal services. This won the Financial Times Most Innovative Legal Team in Europe Award in 2014.
Her more recent work at Shire building a bespoke learning program designed specifically for the in-house legal team won CV Magazine’s Best Transformation & Leadership Program – Global, 2017 and Legal Week Innovation Award 2018 – Training.
Claire trained in London before relocating to Australia where she practised at Allens and King Wood Mallesons. She is admitted to practice in England & Wales and Victoria (Australia).
Claire is a qualified executive coach, a Gallup certified StrengthsFinder coach and co-founder of the in-house mentoring program, The Mosaic Collective.
She is actively involved with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), the world’s largest community of in-house counsel. A Board Member of ACC Europe for 3 years, she now acts as an international liaison for ACC Legal Operations.