About

Gemma Stabler serves as legal manager for shipping and marketing at Fortescue Metals Group, a global leader in the iron ore industry. Stabler worked as a senior associate in the trade and transport team at DLA Phillips Fox (now DLA Piper) prior to joining Fortescue as its in-house shipping lawyer in March 2010. Not long after she joined, her role was expanded to include the marketing (international trade) function. In 2017, following a sabbatical year to undertake further study overseas where she obtained an LLM degree from New York University School of Law, she was made legal manager for shipping and marketing. ‘Having the support of my general counsel to take a sabbatical year to undertake full time study at New York University during 2016-2017 made me feel that my contribution to Fortescue was very much recognised and appreciated, and that was a great source of pride for me’, she states. Stabler believes that a major reason most lawyers choose to move in-house is to be at the intersection of law and commerce, and the most interesting matters for her are those where her advice is sought as part of a broader commercial strategy and there are a variety of legal and business imperatives at play. ‘For me, working as partner with different teams across the business, understanding the bigger corporate picture and providing advice in that context is where the most interesting elements of my work arise’, she says. Talking about her proudest achievement of in-house career, she states: ‘The delivery of Fortescue’s fleet of eight ore carriers was a proud achievement for the entire team who worked tirelessly on the project and I was no exception in feeling very proud about my involvement. I had the privilege of providing legal support on the project from its inception through to its finalisation, with an exceptional range of work from contracting with consultants during the initial concept stage, negotiating the shipbuilding contracts themselves through to the ship financing piece and providing advice during construction and post-delivery’. Stabler sees exposure to the board as essential to enable in-house lawyers to be able to rise to the level of industry leader. ‘The board represents the guiding mind of the company so it is essential to succeed as a corporate lawyer to understand the board’s drives and speak the board’s language. This is not necessarily something that comes naturally to most lawyers and is something that can really only be learned through (guided) exposure’, she says. She also believes that future general counsels will need to be leaders in legal operations, which will (amongst other things) require them to really understand what technology solutions are available and applicable to in-house legal teams. ‘My view is not necessarily that it will be essential for general counsels of the future to implement AI or technology-based solutions for their business, but they will need to at least understand the capabilities of the emerging and available technologies and be able to defend a decision as to why the in-house legal team is or is not adopting them’, Stabler states.