About

‘I enjoy most that my counsel is actively sought by the CEO, chairman and my colleagues’, Graeme Edwards says. ‘I have the opportunity to contribute and make a difference in many facets of the business over and above the legal aspects of my role’. Heading a 30-strong team, Edwards has made substantial changes to ASB’s New Zealand legal function. Most significantly, he introduced a ‘practice group operational model’, ensuring work is allocated on the basis of subject rather than business unit. The major benefits of this approach, Edwards explains, are increased efficiency and team focus, as well as greater staff engagement. ‘Graeme has restructured his legal function in an innovative way to ensure that the in-house function best serves and helps drive the business forward’, opines one private practice source. ‘He has led the team through this period of huge change without disrupting service to the bank’. Edwards has also led a number of complex disputes and transactions, and guided the business through significant regulatory change in the wake of the global financial crisis. In his view, however, his greatest professional achievement has been ‘leading several highly motivated professional teams that consistently achieve excellent internal customer satisfaction and world-class employee engagement’. At the same time, limited resources remain a constant tension, particularly as demand for the function’s assistance increases. ‘In one sense this is a good problem to have because it means that we have successfully demonstrated the value of the service we provide’, he says. ‘The downside is the pressure it puts on the team’. When it comes to law firms, Edwards feels one reoccurring issue is a failure to understand the practical realities of business. ‘The best lawyers understand the corporate strategy and culture and become a seamless extension of the in-house team’.