What are the most significant cases or transactions that you have recently been involved in?

Over the last year, my team has assisted the company in all aspects of SEC compliance and corporate governance as we have shifted focus from merger to integration. We support the board and work with different departments to oversee compliance with SEC reporting.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

In the next decade, it will be important for in-house legal teams to develop specialised teams with a deep understanding of the company in order to minimise costs and streamline the provision of legal services in conjunction with outside counsel. More specialised teams will be better able to communicate with outside counsel to efficiently attain the company’s goals.

Having been on both sides as outside counsel in the past as now as in-house counsel, I understand the importance of having in-house counsel who understands the issues and can communicate pertinent information to outside counsel in a manner that sets up the team for success.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

As an introvert, I need to put extra effort into building and maintaining relationships. Being in-house necessitates this because I must build relationships with persons in many departments in order to execute my responsibilities. While the pandemic has decreased our ability to see people face to face, we now have no location restrictions when seeking to build relationships. I would encourage in-house lawyers to use a mix of virtual and in-person meetings with business partners to get to know each other and discuss how best to work with each other. In some cases, all it may take is walking door to door for an hour each week to catch up with business partners. In other cases, it may be setting a standing meeting with certain business partners at reasonable intervals to discuss upcoming items, catch up and learn the ebbs and flows of your business partners’ teams to develop timelines that work for everyone.

The unusual business environment created by the pandemic has been swiftly followed by other shocks. Are you now putting more emphasis on preparing for the unforeseen and, if so, what does this entail?

The pandemic is not something any of us anticipated. It has given us an opportunity to observe how quickly the SEC pivots to guide issuers during uncertainty and has allowed us to adjust to ever changing circumstances. While we may not know what uncertainty lies ahead, we now have a sense of how we can pivot quickly to address uncertainty and collaborate across teams to continue to provide investors with accurate and helpful information. I continue to focus on preparing to pivot quickly and adjust to changes as needed.