Profile

Clair Ruskin-Brown

Clair is a qualified solicitor with 15 years post qualified experience in commercial Contracts law. Clair has a breadth of experience from high street to city firm to in house and local government. This breadth has ensured Clair has been exposed to a wide variety of commercial and contract law issues and different ways of achieving commercial objectives. This variety has enriched the experience base upon which Clair can draw for the benefit of her team and their clients respectively. Clair has a bubbly, enthusiastic, friendly demeanour making her a pleasure and easy to work with. Clair manages, directs and mentors the Contracts Team within Staffordshire Legal Services and provides high level strategic input into the legal projects led by members of her team.

Experience

  • Clair has worked as an Associate Solicitor within a mainstream Midlands based firm in a busy fast paced commercial contracts department located in the City of Birmingham.
  • Clair has advised on competition law issues and attended clients during OFT orchestrated dawn raids on the client’s premises and provided the follow up advice ensuring the client took advantage of the co-operation provisions under the Competition Act 1998. Clair has worked as in-house legal counsel for a telecommunication group of companies with a high street presence.
  • Clair has advised on State Aid and related legal issues, corporate and contractual structures and ventures, governance, intellectual property matters and licences, Information Technology matters, agreements and licences, Consumer Credit agreements and advice.

Strategic Talents

  • Commercial Contract Law and Government Procurement
  • Data Protection
  • Contract and Commercial Negotiation
  • Strategic Thinking and Governance
  • Contract Management, Budgetingand Resourcing
  • Presentation, Training, Public Speaking
  • Supervision, Mentoring and Inspiring People
  • Customer Relations, Client Care and Marketing legal services
  • Motivation, Team building and Team Management and Team Leadership

Current role

  • Clair’s current role is fast paced and strategic. Clair is often involved in the more complex and technical legal issues that arise out of the Projects being led by the Contracts Team.
  • Multi-tasking is a daily function of Clair’s role as she liaises between Members and Senior Directors and Officers and her Team and often members of the public.
  • Clair and the Contract’s team service a broad range of services across the County Council and other external clients and, their contract experience and expertise is as diverse and broad as the subject matters of the contracts with which they deal.

Professional Qualifications and Memberships

Qualification type / Subject / Date attained
Degree / Law LLB Hons (2:1) / 1995
Post Graduate Diploma / Legal Practice / 1996
Admitted to the Role / Solicitor / 1999

Other

Clair has a head for business and an aptitude for commercial thinking, having studied business and economics. Clair’s aptitude in this area keeps Clair enthused and excited about delivering best value for clients and ensuring they are protected sufficiently when relationships do not flourish in the way envisaged or intended. The broad application of contract and commercial law and thinking and the variety and diversity that entails keeps Clair’s passion and dedication for this area of the law ignited. Clair ensures that she shares this passion with her team and ignites this passion in others within her team. Clair enjoys working with people and gets immense satisfaction from making the complex simple for others to also understand and apply to their day to day business tasks.