Despite the exit of managing attorney Leah Cooper, outsourcing remains high on the agenda of Rio Tinto’s legal team as it embarks on a major panel review. Alex Aldridge reports
Leah Cooper’s decision in February to quit her job as Rio Tinto managing attorney and EMEA general counsel to take a business development role at legal outsourcing provider CPA Global caused quite a stir. At the time, the outsourcing deal she struck with CPA on behalf of Rio – which since last May has seen the mining giant send out low-level legal tasks to a team of CPA lawyers in India – was less than a year old. And few expected the brains behind – and recognisable face of – the headline-grabbing initiative to jump ship so soon.
