Team size: 100

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Throughout 2021, the CLRO team was extensively involved in advising the board and management on various approaches for the company’s Wagering & Media Division. This leads to a comprehensive strategic review of the company and its various business units culminating in a decision to demerge the Lotteries & Keno Division into a separately listed ASX Company. The CLRO team is now deeply immersed in executing the Demerger, scheduled for Q2 2022. The demerger work has involved may of the CLRO being seconded to work on this project. This is in addition to the myriad of other significant matters dealt with.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The pandemic has forced in-house counsel to be more risk aware and embrace risk management and business continuity planning in their daily work. That is a positive development from my perspective particularly as I am also the Chief Risk Officer. The pandemic has been a negative in terms of potentially reducing the connectivity of the legal and risk teams from the business particularly, in the lack of informal exchanges and insights gained when people worked face-to-face. This lack of connectivity has, of course, manifested itself in many areas of corporate life.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

We introduced the Legal operations role into Tabcorp about two years ago. We initially believed that we were behind in technological platforms and apps which we could use to increase our efficiency and effectiveness. It is still the case that we need to utilise standard technology tools to assist in process mapping and design thinking. However, technology advancements and tools are not a panacea and need to be used in conjunction with   functional excellence more broadly, which   means   constantly reviewing the way we operate, the systems, the processes utilised, all underpinned by a comprehensive CLRO strategy and roadmap.