Pinsent Masons appoints Sarah Derbyshire as General Counsel

Sarah joins from Baringa Partners, where she was Global General Counsel, leading an international team across four regions, and chair of the Risk Executive Committee.

Sarah is an accomplished General Counsel with extensive experience of shaping and elevating the General Counsel’s Office (‘GCO’) beyond traditional legal advisory into a strategic, growth-enabling function. She is skilled at driving transformation within continually evolving and complex environments, having previously held lead legal roles in AI and Enterprise Growth at Accenture.

Sarah will also join the firm’s global Board, becoming the first General Counsel to hold a seat.

Sarah Derbyshire, General Counsel, says:

“The remit of the GC has evolved beyond traditional legal risk management. Aligning legal frameworks with commercial ambition is now crucial. I see the GCO as an important value creator and strategic partner to the firm and intend to embed innovation into our operations to deliver that vision and enable growth. Pinsent Masons is clearly a business that embraces evolution and transformation, and that’s what attracted me to the firm.”

Commenting on the appointment, Matt Peers, COO at Pinsent Masons, says:

“Sarah has a wealth of experience operating in complex, internationally scaled partnerships with sophisticated governance and regulatory exposure. Her depth of experience in governance and transformation give us strong conviction that she’ll advance the function as it plays an increasingly central role in driving our next phase of growth.”

Earlier this month the firm also announced its inaugural Innovation & Transformation role. The firm appointed Head of Commercial Clare Francis and Head of Restructuring partner Stacey Bairner as co-heads. Working alongside Hayley Harris, Chief Knowledge and AI Adoption Officer and Tracey McDermott, Chief Technology Officer, they will shape the firm’s strategy for client-facing legal service transformation.