About

Jarrod Woodward works as senior legal counsel at ENGIE, a multinational electric utility company, covering Australia and New Zealand. He started his legal career at international law firm Allens, a top-tier law firm, in 2011, and in 2015 he moved to Tokyo to work as an international lawyer in the corporate group for Allen & Overy in order to gain exposure to a foreign market and work on cross-border transactions, as well as to develop an understanding of Asia Pacific business practices and cross-cultural dynamics. His work primarily focused on advising Japanese clients in relation to their complex, cross-border M&A, joint ventures and other projects, including transactions spanning Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. During his time at Allen & Overy, Woodward was profiled in The Legal 500 Directory (Japan, corporate and M&A, international firms and joint ventures section) for being ‘a perfect blend of youthful energy, diligent case management and impeccable expertise’. Woodward transitioned into his current in-house role at ENGIE in August 2018, as he ‘wanted to gain closer access to a business and more involvement in strategic and commercial decision making’. In his role as senior legal counsel, Woodward has advised internal business at ENGIE on the development, financing, and construction of its renewable development projects, including Willogoleche Wind Farm in South Australia. ‘It has been interesting to work directly with a business on its major projects – in particular, to witness the extensive preparatory work that goes into a development project spanning all areas of the business (the extent of which is not visible from the outside), and also to focus on the ongoing implementation of the project (as opposed to only execution of the transaction documentation)’, he states. Woodward is particularly proud of the amount he has learned about the energy sector in a short space of time in his in-house role. When he entered his current position, he had only worked on transactions that touched on the energy sector but he was not involved in it on a daily basis. ‘I have invested considerable time and effort in getting up to speed with the laws and regulations governing energy, energy policy, and how energy is generated, distributed and consumed. The strides I have made in this area, together with work on certain projects, has been recognised internally. I am acting as the legal lead in respect of a number of projects and I’m looking forward to using my growing passion for this sector to help facilitate successful investment outcomes for our business’, he says. Woodward thinks the move from thermal energy generation into renewable and other lower carbon forms of energy will shape his career in the energy sector. ‘This historic time and incredibly challenging market dynamics is what drove my interest in, and move into, the energy sector’, he comments. In his view, the best support that peers can provide aspiring in-house legal industry leaders is trust and opportunity, and in-house lawyers of today and tomorrow play a critical role in an organisation which requires them to possess skills that extend significantly beyond pure legal skills. He believes that general counsels of the future should be particularly strong in the following areas: commercial acumen, people management, leadership skills and innovation. ‘I commence studying a part time masters in business administration at Melbourne Business School in the coming weeks. A key reason for my decision to undertake an MBA is to broaden my skills in the above areas so I am well positioned to be a general counsel of the future’, he says.