How do you feel that the pandemic has changed the world for work of in-house counsel? 

There has been a significant shift in operating – driven by both internal and external business requirements. There has always been a tendency that in-house functions, led by legal professionals, relied primarily on its advisory services, providing the organisation with those areas of expertise characterising the main drivers of the business. Securing an advisory platform is a natural part of operating with the law. There is a current shift in ensuring that what is essential to the business agenda is incorporated, embracing the full commercial scope for an organisation alignment, transforming alongside the business.

Organisations have to adapt to an ever-evolving global marketplace, balancing regulatory and social demands and embracing digitisation. These challenges are becoming more included in business strategies and KPIs. While organisations are optimising team synergies, legal departments are equally evolving from acting as separated ‘advisory units’ to strategic partners to the business. COVID-19 has ramped up these challenges, while the sudden move to remote work is also proof of relying even more on connectivity, centralisation and technology going forward.

What would you say the main focus is for your company over the next 12 months? 

A new reality demands a different approach. I am originally trained as a lawyer within a law firm but have been working in-house over the past decade. Here at KPMG, my core focus is still anchored within the in-house legal function. As processes are improved and standardised, technology enables new strategies for sourcing legal solutions; the traditional legal function hierarchy will adapt into a more agile setup – securing cross-functional integrations between business units, combining processes and data and securing the business scope. KPMG has added a new service level to the traditional legal advisory platforms. Working from a global agenda and towards each market, we provide business solutions to in-house legal challenges – aiming to modernise, commercialise and digitise Legal.

What do you feel are the pros and cons of an in-house legal role compared to a private practice one? 

This is an essential element of my work – looking into those main gaps between the in-house legal and private practice roles. And then break down the silos. The role of general counsel is increasingly evolving from being legal specialists to being strategic advisors to the business. The major difference is commercial understanding – being business savvy. The in-house lawyer needs to take a wider view and deliver commercial but legally-robust insights and ensure that the legal team’s work is aligned with the business’s strategic objectives. This calls for ‘generalist knowledge’ instead of the traditional pillar-focused ‘specialist knowledge’. In-house lawyers can grasp the potential of collaborating seamlessly across departments to secure accessible, agile, efficient, and cost-effective legal solutions.