Simon Davies (born 1967) is a British lawyer and businessman. He was appointed as the youngest ever firmwide managing partner at Linklaters in 2008. In 2016, he moved to Lloyds Banking Group to become the chief people, legal and strategy officer and a member of the group's executive committee.

Career

Davies joined Linklaters as a trainee in their

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

office in 1990 and became partner in 1999. He spent 12 years in Asia, specialising in M&A and Securities advice serving terms in each of Hong Kong and Tokyo. Davies was

Managing Partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as "equity partners". The ...

for Asia from 2003 to 2007. He was then appointed as Firmwide Managing Partner in February 2007 and took up the role in January 2008. At the age of 39, he was the youngest ever person to hold this position. In this role, he chaired the Executive Committee and was a member of the firm's Partnership Board. He stepped down in 2015 and was replaced by Linklaters former global banking head, Gideon Moore. Davies is recognised for launching the Linklaters Law and Business School in 2007, which delivers integrated business and technical skills training. He is also credited for a marked improvement in the number of top-tier rankings across the firm's practice areas and strong

financial performance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fin ...

under his leadership. Davies has overseen a growth in the firm's geographic coverage particularly in Asia and Africa, and the development of its contentious and

regulatory Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

capabilities. Davies has led also efforts to reposition Linklaters as a more progressive and diverse business, with the firm launching a global diversity action plan during his tenure as Firmwide Managing Partner. This has included introducing the target to have at least 30% females on the firm's Partnership Board and Executive Committee by 2018, and for at least 30% of all new partners to be women. In recognition of its diversity efforts, Linklaters was the first organisation in the UK to be awarded the UK National Equality Standard.

Other Positions

Davies is a member of

TheCityUK TheCityUK is a private-sector membership body and industry advocacy group promoting the financial services, financial and related professional services industry of the United Kingdom (UK). TheCityUK is often referred to as the industry's "most po ...

/ CBBC China Market Advisory Group, and is closely involved with fostering relations between China and the UK. In 2013, Davies received from the

Chinese Ambassador to the UK The Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom is the official representative from the People's Republic of China to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Formerly the Chinese ambassadors represented the Qing Empire (1875– ...

a fellowship of the 48 Group Club, an independent business network committed to promoting positive China-UK relations. Davies is also trustee of the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

of Great Britain.

Qualifications and education

Davies was educated at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he studied law.http://www.thelawyer.com/simon-davies-linklaters/129554.article "Simon Davies: Linklaters". The Lawyer. 22 October 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2010. Davies is a Solicitor of the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a member of The Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association and a

Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Simon English solicitors Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1967 births