About

As general counsel and company secretary of one of New Zealand’s largest listed companies, Charles Bolt has made a substantial impact during his two years in the role. In 2013, he participated in the company’s five-year “FBUnite” project, which saw the centralisation of all business functions. In the case of legal, this entailed a dramatic overhaul of what was previously a relatively adhoc arrangement, involving significant recruitment, arranged along jurisdictional lines. ‘This has been a transformative program for the company and legal team’, opines one private practice source. ‘I have been able to recruit a very strong, very client-focused team who, despite initial resistance from businesses, have been able to prove their worth’, Bolt says of the project. Given the significant changes to the company’s day-to-day operations, Bolt concedes there has been a degree of resistance to the function’s more formalised involvement in day-to-day decision-making. ‘We have had to overcome this through just by showing what “good” looks like and keeping the dialogue going’. The main challenge going forward comes as a direct result of this, however, as the team deals with the heightened level of internal instructions. ‘Many of the businesses have seen what the legal function can do for them and seek more support’, he explains. ‘In particular, we are trying to find ways of managing the high volume, low value work that comes in’. When it comes to outside counsel, he would like to see a greater understanding of his objectives as a client. ‘In some cases they are very good, but I would like them to see matters from our perspective, especially in litigation.  This means being more strategic about their advice and using the disputes process to drive an outcome, rather than it being a basis for them to generate fees’.