Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
Timeline
Hi, I’m

Lucy Murphy

Hertfordshire
Lucy Murphy

Summary

Accomplished executive with over 25 years’ experience partnering with boards to deliver strategy, simplification, and large-scale transformation. Internationally recognised as a leading figure in professional services (2019, 2023) for driving ambitious strategies that achieve tangible results in complex environments.

Collaborative, outcomes-driven leader with a record of guiding global teams of over 2,000 and overseeing complex digital, operational, and cultural transformations - reshaping organisational performance and value delivery. Most recently at Linklaters, played a key role in a small team that reversed eight years of flat growth, delivering a 22 per cent profit increase in 2025 and significant gains in business agility. Combine deep commercial insight with hands-on execution, consistently aligning technology, people, and processes to achieve operational excellence, substantial cost efficiencies, and sustainable performance.

Thrive in fast-paced, high-growth environments, empowering teams to innovate and embed client-centric thinking that drives lasting, measurable results.

Overview

23
years of professional experience
1999
years of post-secondary education

Work history

Linklaters LLP
London

Chief Growth Officer
08.2023 - Current

Job overview

  • Executive Board member partnering with Managing Partner as COO-designate, leading 3,000 people across nine global functions.
  • Spearheading the legal sector’s largest operating model redesign, realigning global business teams to enhance client focus and streamline core processes such as billing and pitching.
  • Recruited new Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Shared Services Officer, establishing the firm’s first outsourcing arrangement and significantly upgrading shared services in Warsaw.
  • Established global competency framework and growth plans, linking team development to firm KPIs.
  • A key member of AI Steering Board and Major Investment Committee, overseeing technology and artificial intelligence transformation—implementing Salesforce and upgrading to S4 Hana to improve integration, real-time analytics, and readiness for further automation and AI adoption.
  • Introduced global business planning and financial scorecards, aligning business offices and functions with firm strategy and driving greater accountability.
  • Collaborating with Senior Partner to grow US partner headcount, directly hiring four new partners and facilitating introductions to others

Allen & Overy LLP
London

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
07.2021 - 04.2023

Job overview

  • Key member of the executive team that decided on the merger of A&O and Shearman & Sterling.
  • Managed team of 400 people across 48 offices with $40 million budget.
  • Secured partner buy-in for ten new strategic priorities and led cross-functional teams and steering groups to deliver firm-wide technology and process transformation.
  • Led responses to sensitive issues - including sanctions, partner conduct, data breaches, and major office closures (Moscow) - ensuring effective crisis communication.

Freshfields

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
02.2009 - 06.2021

Job overview

  • Executive Board member working very closely with Managing Partner and Senior Partner.
  • Led 150-member marketing team across 28 offices with $35 million annual budget as CMO and Executive Board member, implementing firm-wide 'exceptional client experience' strategy.
  • Restructured reactive 200-strong function, improving output and team standing while reducing costs by 40 percent within six months. Played leading role in crisis management during the pandemic, advising senior management on business impacts and scenarios.
  • Co-designed and established Freshfields' first nearshore service centre in Manchester, streamlining process-led activities across 2,500 people. Despite initial resistance, the project was considered very successful. Freshfields have since opened second centre.
  • Recruited and led 12-member business origination team that used AI to generate around $30 million in billings in two years by anticipating client activity in refinancing, M&A, and IPOs.
  • Partnered with senior management to build firm’s first key client programme, strengthening ties with high-value clients and helping secure significant mandates from companies like Novartis, Biogen, and J&J.
  • Designed and delivered transformative £30 million MarTech strategy, which included implementation and adoption of Salesforce - to integrate client data across the firm. Led cross-functional project team involving Finance, IT, Marketing, L&D, Conflicts, Pricing, HR, PwC, Salesforce, and 3rd party implementation partner.
  • Trusted adviser on critical firm issues—from leadership transitions and crisis management to (potential) mergers and competitor insights—building strong relationships across all levels.
  • Championed D&I by promoting pro bono initiatives including UN’s impact investing framework, Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship, and outreach for underrepresented New York City students.

Linklaters LLP

Global Head of Corporate Marketing
01.2003 - 04.2008

Job overview

  • Responsible for global marketing and business development for the firm's highest-profile practice. Managed 18-strong practice marketing team, covering strategy, client development and marketing communications. Regularly presented to the corporate/M&A partners.

Education

De Montfort University

Bachelor of Arts from Business Studies IIi
09/1995 - 07.1998

Cranfield School of Management
Bedford

from Key Account Management

London Business School

Finance for Non-Finance Professionals

Harvard Business School

Five Day A&O Leadership Development Programme

Skills

Board-level collaboration and governance
Strong record of advising Managing and Senior Partners, shaping firmwide strategy, and influencing board-level decisions

Strategic leadership and operating model transformation
Extensive experience delivering large-scale organisational change, including leading the legal sector’s largest operating model transformation

Change management in complex, global environments
Proven ability to drive cultural and operational change across functions and regions, securing stakeholder buy-in even within highly traditional, change-resistant organisations

Executive recruitment and talent development
Strengthened leadership teams and revitalised core business functions such as Marketing, Operations, and Finance through targeted executive recruitment and talent development

Commercial and client focus
Deep commercial acumen, with a focus on positioning businesses to be more market- and client-centric, driving sustained value and growth

Business process and technology enablement
Led Salesforce implementation, enhancing client engagement, collaboration, and pipeline management

Stakeholder engagement
Skilled at building effective steering groups and fostering wide engagement to accelerate transformational change

International growth strategy
Supported strategic expansion and talent acquisition, including partner recruitment in key growth markets such as the US

Timeline

Chief Growth Officer

Linklaters LLP
08.2023 - Current

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Allen & Overy LLP
07.2021 - 04.2023

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Freshfields
02.2009 - 06.2021

Global Head of Corporate Marketing

Linklaters LLP
01.2003 - 04.2008

De Montfort University

Bachelor of Arts from Business Studies IIi
09/1995 - 07.1998

Cranfield School of Management

from Key Account Management

London Business School

Finance for Non-Finance Professionals

Harvard Business School

Five Day A&O Leadership Development Programme

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Lucy Murphy