Susanna McGibbon, Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary of the Government Legal Department
Susanna McGibbon was appointed Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary of the Government Legal Department in March 2021.
Susanna is a barrister and joined the Government Legal Profession in 1993 after 3 years in private practice at the Bar. She is a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn where she sits on the Scholarship Committee and is also a member of the Social Mobility sub-committee.
Susanna was Director in several of GLD’s Legal Advisory teams, including Litigation, and was appointed a Director General in 2018, before taking up the role of Treasury Solicitor.
Susanna’s experience encompasses the range of government legal work – policy development, primary and secondary legislation, public inquiries, EU law, human rights, and national security.
What does “paving the way” for future generations mean to you?
“As only the second woman to be Treasury Solicitor I’d like to think that I am paving the way for many other women to aspire to senior positions in the legal profession, in particular those from non-traditional backgrounds. As I reflect on my own career, from Bolton to Westminster, I worked hard to overcome the barriers inherent in a profession historically dominated by privately educated and/or Oxbridge graduates. I think we are making progress in removing those barriers and further “paving the way”.”