Royal Mail acting group general counsel Maaike de Bie has been named officially to the top role after seven months as interim general counsel.
De Bie, who appeared in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2016, was appointed to the interim role in September 2015 after general counsel Neil Harnby left the company following four years at the helm of the company’s legal team.
De Bie joined the Royal Mail as deputy general counsel in 2014 to aid its transition from a public sector organisation to a FTSE 100 company.
As part of her interim role, de Bie was a member of Royal Mail’s executive committee, which is responsible for creating and then delivering the company’s strategic plan and budget. She also led a team of over 70 people, accountable for all legal, compliance, claims management and information governance matters.
De Bie told The Lawyer that nothing has changed since her official appointment and that she has the same responsibilities as when she was interim general counsel.
According to data from The Lawyer Market Intelligence (LMI), the company has 12 firms on its general panel, including Addleshaw Goddard, CMS Cameron McKenna, Dentons, DLA Piper, Herbert Smith Freehills and Slaughter and May.
De Bie has spent most of her career in-house, spending time at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, GE and Ernst & Young.