How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure organisational resilience?

Working in the defence sector, I approach periods of instability and crisis with the understanding that legal risk is often inseparable from operational, geopolitical and strategic risk. My role therefore extends beyond protecting the organisation from legal exposure: it is about creating clarity, enabling informed decisions and preserving the ability to act decisively when circumstances are uncertain.

I focus first on identifying the relevant legal and regulatory constraints, distinguishing immediate critical issues from risks that can be managed over a longer horizon. This requires close cooperation with business leadership, compliance, security, risk, procurement and operational teams, and a pragmatic assessment of regulatory developments, government requirements, contractual obligations and supply-chain considerations. My objective is to provide decision-makers with clear options and practical recommendations aligned with strategic and operational priorities, rather than allowing legal uncertainty to become an obstacle to timely decisions.

A recent example was my support of the negotiations behind a landmark naval modernisation programme for the mid-life modernisation of a national navy’s frigate fleet. The programme involved multiple government and industry stakeholders with different priorities and risk perceptions within a highly prescriptive public defence contracting framework. The challenge was not simply to identify legal risks, but to bridge different perspectives and create sufficient confidence among the parties to move forward. I focused on developing contractual mitigation that addressed legitimate concerns while remaining fully compatible with applicable law and protecting the organisation’s interests.

This experience reflects my broader approach to legal strategy: in a complex and rapidly changing defence environment, the legal function should be both a safeguard and a strategic enabler. By anticipating risk, creating practical solutions and aligning legal decisions with business and operational priorities, I aim not only to manage crises effectively, but to strengthen organisational resilience and preserve the flexibility needed to deliver long-term strategic objectives.

How do you balance being a legal risk manager with being a strategic business enabler, and where do you see the biggest tensions?

I do not see risk management and business enablement as opposing objectives. The role of in-house Legal is not to eliminate risk, but to help the business distinguish between unacceptable risk, manageable risk and risk that may be necessary to achieve a strategic objective.

In a complex multinational matrix organisation, the greatest tension can arise from different perceptions of the same risk, both internally and with external stakeholders. My role is to bring those perspectives together, clarify the actual exposure and identify proportionate mitigation that allows the business to move forward without compromising its interests.

What is the most overlooked skill or mindset that today’s in-house lawyers need to succeed at the highest level?

I believe it is the ability to turn complexity and competing interests into practical judgement. In-house lawyers rarely operate in situations where the legal answer exists in isolation. They must understand the business objective, appreciate the perspectives of different stakeholders and recognise that a technically correct answer is not always the most useful one.

The strongest in-house lawyers, in my view, are those who can identify where legitimate interests can coexist, even when they initially appear irreconcilable. That requires curiosity, sound judgement and the confidence to look beyond the immediate legal position to find a solution that is both legally robust and commercially workable.