About

Valued for his energy, ‘drive’ and ‘common sense approach’, Sam Barbaro has achieved a great deal in a short space of time. Less than a year ago, he was a senior legal counsel at Western Australia’s leading government-owned electricity supplier. Since then, he has made the transition, not only to general counsel, but to executive manager, responsible for all legal, company secretarial and risk at board-level. ‘I am relishing the opportunity to participate in an executive that is truly trying to transform Western Power in terms of customer service and productivity’, he says. ‘The level of commitment of my colleagues is extremely motivating and meets my drive to never stop improving performance’. Over the past six months, he has focused on restructuring the unit he leads to improve its effectiveness, and one major change has seen a more considered use of outside counsel. ‘This is allowing the lawyers to focus on the more strategic matters within the business to which they can provide the greatest value’, Barbaro explains. ‘Other, more routine, legal matters can then be distributed to appropriate external firms for assistance, where an intimate knowledge of the business is not as crucial’. When it comes to instructing law firms, he remains a discerning client, however. ‘It is not expected that an external firm will be an expert in the business’, he says. ‘But it’s expected that the right questions would be asked and relevant information reviewed to ensure that there is an appropriate understanding of the “pinch points”’. Barbaro’s approach was put to the test during his handling of a class action against the utility following a major bushfire, where sources speak highly of his sensitive and intelligent balancing of the issues. ‘As a Government Trading Enterprise, there were many competing interests that needed to be managed by the business’, Barbaro says. ‘At all times we also needed remain respectful to those that had suffered loss’. Barbaro was previously a senior associate at Minter Ellison, specialising in corporate, energy and public law.