Janet Legrand

Janet studied law in the first year of women at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and has had a hugely enjoyable legal career combining fascinating client mandates, latterly for Governments, with senior leadership roles within DLA Piper, a global law firm with 90 offices worldwide (including Edinburgh). First elected to the Partnership Board in December 1998, she was subsequently reelected 5 times to various roles, including Senior Partner and Board Chair, Senior Elected Board Member and Global Co-Chair. On her appointment as Queen’s Counsel Honoris Causa in 2018, the Lord Chancellor described Janet as, “..a pioneer in enhancing the role of women in the law, promoting social mobility, diversity and inclusion within her firm and the wider profession..”. Beyond the law, Janet has significant governance experience in higher education, in particular from her prior roles on the Audit Committee of the University of Cambridge and as Deputy Chair of Council at City, University of London, where she was also a Trustee of the Student’s Union. She is a member of the Advisory Panel of IntoUniversity and was a founding Board member of PRIME, the legal profession’s social mobility alliance. Janet has also served on the Board of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and been Deputy Chair of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, the body with oversight of the UK Government’s Marshall Scholarships scheme. Beyond higher education, Janet chairs the Board of The Children’s Society, a major children’s charity whose focus is on supporting society’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people. Janet is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.