Chris Norton

Associate Director | Governance, Risk and Compliance

Vereinigte Arabische Emirate

Chris specialises in the recruitment of governance, risk and compliance professionals across the Middle East region. Born in the UAE and raised in the UK, Chris brings a wealth of experience to the governance, risk and compliance team in Dubai, having placed SMEs globally across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UK, Germany, Switzerland and more.

Based in Dubai, Chris partners closely with a diverse portfolio of clients, including financial institutions, crypto and fintech startups, asset and investment managers, oil and gas corporations, real estate developers, trading and shipping firms, law practices, regulatory bodies, and government entities. His deep understanding of the regional regulatory landscape and global best practices enables him to deliver strategic hiring solutions that align with evolving compliance demands and risk management frameworks.

Chris is known for his consultative approach, market insight, and commitment to building long-term relationships. His expertise helps organisations navigate complex regulatory environments and build resilient, future-ready GRC teams that drive business integrity and operational excellence.

Chris's Insights, Articles and Resources

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Where are regional businesses struggling to hire lawyers?

Posted September 22, 2026

Contents Share Key insights The UK regional in-house legal market continues to evolve at pace. Over the last decade, businesses across Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and other regional centres have invested heavily in legal capability, creating increasingly sophisticated legal functions outside London. While this growth has created exciting opportunities for lawyers, it has also intensified talent competition. Many employers are finding […]

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From General Counsel to CEO: how legal leaders can make the leap

Posted September 22, 2026

Contents Share Key insights Katherine Potter (Katie) has lead a public company as CEO and served as General Counsel in listed and private equity-backed businesses. She explains why the move from legal adviser to business leader starts long before the title changes, and what ambitious GCs can do now to prepare for it. For many […]

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Talent is everywhere, access is not: Russell Johnstone on purposeful trusteeship

Posted September 9, 2026

Contents Share For Russell Johnstone, trusteeship is where senior commercial judgment meets social purpose. With a career advising some of the UK’s most prominent consumer, media and technology businesses, including as General Counsel for BT’s Consumer division, he now brings board-level judgment, regulatory fluency and commercial discipline to three organisations united by a powerful idea: […]

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How data protection leaders can hold the C-suite’s attention

Posted September 4, 2026

Contents Share Key insights Executive attention is the scarcest resource a data protection function competes for. Winning the C-suite’s attention is often the easy part: a regulatory deadline or a data breach naturally puts privacy on the board agenda without any effort from the Data Protection Officer (DPO). Keeping that attention is what allows privacy programmes to grow beyond a team of one. Across data protection recruitment, the […]

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How tech and life sciences companies should hire legal leaders for growth

Posted September 4, 2026

Contents Share Key insights High-growth companies rarely need the same legal function for long. A technology startup may initially need support with intellectual property and commercial contracts before enterprise growth, AI adoption or international expansion changes the legal brief. A life sciences company may move from fundraising and IP protection into clinical development, licensing and commercialization. The challenge is recognising when […]

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What does a data centre lawyer do? Understanding one of the legal market’s most elusive skill sets

Posted September 3, 2026

Contents Share Key insights What is the remit of a data centre lawyer? It is a question we are being asked with increasing frequency by C-suite leaders preparing to make their first General Counsel hire, by existing in-house legal teams assessing where their capability gaps lie, and by lawyers themselves trying to understand how to […]