Sandie Okoro

Sandie Okoro who is one of the United Kingdom's leading in-house lawyers.

Sandie was born in London in 1964 and read Law and Politics at Birmingham University, graduating in 1988. She attended the Inns of Court School of Law for the Bar Finals and was Called to the Bar in 1988 (Lincoln’s Inn).

In 1989 Sandie joined a small Mayfair law firm, Stoneham Langton and Passmore and in 1990 she disbarred and became a solicitor. The same year she joined Schroders (which in 2007 has over £132billion under management) where she remained for 16 years. Schroders was an Investment Bank when Sandie joined in 1990 and she was initially in the private client section as Head of their Trustee Company, at the age of just 25.

Between 1998 and 2000 she moved onto the institutional side (Schroder Investment Management Limited), becoming the Schroder Investment Management International’s first lawyer and built up this section.

On her return from a nine-month maternity leave in 2002, it was testimony to Schroders’ faith in Sandie that she was made a director within three months of her return, taking on the responsibility for the Private Bank. In 2003 she became the Head of Legal for Corporate Services, a position she held until she left in April 2007. In that role Sandie was responsible for a team of 12, handling most of the operational side of the business which included corporate and transactional, IT and e-commerce, outsourcing, employment, contract, derivatives, litigation, pensions, regulation and taxation.

In her new role at Barings, Sandie leads an all-female team of five. Whereas her role at Schroders was in the UK and Europe, at Barings it is global, covering the UK, Europe, North America, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan.

Sandie was named as one of the HOT 100 lawyers of 2005 by The Lawyer magazine and she is also one of the panel of judges on The Lawyer awards for 2007.

Sandie is a trustee of the Maisie Sheed Charitable Trust and a Foundation Governor of La Retraite School. She is an avid keep-fit fanatic. She used to do long-distance running and completed the London Marathon in 1997 and 1999.