Team size: Eight

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

While it’s not a new observation, it seems that the pace and volume of change continues to increase, and with that comes plenty of work to keep the legal team busy. Over the past year we’ve seen a number of high-profile cyber attacks and a resulting global increase in legislative and regulatory attention on issues relating to privacy and data protection, cyber security, and resilience. Simultaneously, we are working on solutions for the legal issues arising from emerging technologies and new uses of data. The challenge is being able to respond quickly, stay across this change, and provide practical, business-enabling solutions while managing the constant flow of ‘BAU’ work the team deals with. This has forced us to find opportunities to create efficiencies in what we do and how we do it, including collaborating with our IT procurement team to design and implement self-service for certain low-risk and low-value arrangements. This frees up capacity in both functions, allowing us to spend time on matters that are of higher priority and value for the organisation.

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

While generative AI is the obvious answer, and there’s no doubt about its potential to revolutionise the role of in-house legal teams of the future, the technological advancements we’re looking forward too are more prosaic. We are about to implement a new document and matter management platform which we expect will be a significant step forward for our team.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

Curiosity, tenacity, and the ability to write short emails.