Sarah Nelson Smith – Advisory Board
European Legal Director, KFC
Sarah Nelson Smith is the European Legal Director at Kentucky Fried Chicken, with responsibility for the KFC brand in over 40 countries across Europe. Having trained at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Sarah worked with the US firm Baker Botts in international arbitration, before joining the Yum! legal team in May 2011. Sarah had responsibility for KFC and Pizza Hut in the UK and Ireland, before taking on the wider, European role for KFC. She leads a small in-house legal department, whilst playing an active role in the global Yum! legal team, comprised of over a hundred lawyers worldwide. Sarah won the title of In House Lawyer of the Year at the 2014 Lawyer Awards, and has spoken publically on, inter alia, franchising, managing and motivating an in-house legal team, delivering corporate culture and value, and threats and opportunities of trading in a complex global marketplace.