Miller McLean is group general counsel and group secretary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the world’s biggest banks. Now in his fourth decade at RBS, he is one of a close-knit group of executives who have transformed it from a distinguished but insular Scottish institution into a hard-nosed global competitor. McLean, 58, began as a graduate trainee in 1970 after getting an MA from Glasgow University and initially worked in various junior banking roles. After retraining as a lawyer he rose to become head of the legal department in 1994. Since then he has steered the bank through two of the biggest banking takeovers in recent times: NatWest in 2000 and ABN Amro last year. On top of that, McLean has been one of the few business lawyers to engage seriously with government, chairing the Whitehall and Industry Group. He also chairs the trustees of RBS’s pension fund, sits on the board of two subsidiary banks and is president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland. One of the few on our list based outside London, he lives with his wife in Edinburgh.

Back to the full Law 100 2008

Did we get it right? Tell us your picks

Law 100: women | Law 100: corporate and business | Law 100: public, criminal and human rights | Law 100: judges

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• The best legal yarns this Christmas
• Legal school 'earned £1m by exploiting bar course'
• Axe may fall on 5,000 more City lawyers