About

‘In my view, the biggest challenges and perhaps the greatest opportunities for general counsel to demonstrate their value-add, are in the context of major strategic transactions and large-scale regulatory changes’. Lawrence Kim, GDF SUEZ’s highly acclaimed Australia GC, is particularly recognised for his role in the significant restructuring and refinancing the national business. During 2012, GDF SUEZ Australian Energy completed a global merger with International Power. At the same time it faced the introduction of national carbon tax and the refinancing of major generating plants across Western Australia. ‘Aside from transactional challenges, one of the other large challenges is dealing with peoples’ resistance to change’, opines Kim. ‘In pursuing operational efficiencies, the legal team frequently looks at opportunities to improve its internal processes and/or mitigate risk in the business. Implementing change on a workforce which is accustomed to doing things a certain way can definitely be challenging’. Part of an award-winning team, Kim drew notice from an early stage of his career with the global energy giant, for his ‘energy’ and ‘commercial poise’. Sitting on the senior management team, he has been active in building up the legal brand, and looking for more effective ways to support the business. In doing so, he has recently added compliance and sustainability responsibilities to his remit. ‘Our team is a small team, but one which operates as a critical partner to all business units on a wide range of issues’. Operating within a flat structure, Kim mirrors his predecessor’s focus on offering all lawyers as broad a range of experience as possible. ‘Lawyers in my team do not operate in functional silos’, he says. ‘I have a commitment to my team members and their development; this includes giving them exposure to a wide range of matters and letting them interact with various stakeholders at all levels’. Kim suggests firms could sometimes benefit from taking the time to really get to know their clients’ businesses, and being more ‘proactive’. ‘Anticipating and contacting me about a potential problem, before it becomes a problem’.