Team size: 40

What are the projects that you are most proud of working on over the past 12 months?
We have been working on several projects in the data privacy space following rulings from the ECJ that could directly impact our business in multiple markets in the European Union. These projects have involved multiple internal and external stakeholders across a range of disciplines from data privacy, to lobbying and involving politicians, legislators, regulators, lawyers, compliance specialists and business colleagues.

I worked on the team leading acquisitions in Australia and Germany, amongst others. The two stand out transactions included the acquisition of Illion in Australia and the acquisition of Boniversum in Germany. These M&A deals are platforms to work with many internal and external colleagues under tight timescales and navigate complex regulatory hurdles to get deals.

In terms of regulatory compliance: DORA, NIS2, EU AI Act, and others. I am the executive sponsor for a large regional regulatory readiness programme that has touched on the EU’s digital strategy and suite of new laws. Another challenge for Experian has been the EU Digital Strategy and the myriads of EU regulations that came out of it and now regulate most of Experian’s business which was either not or not so heavily regulated in the past. This has been a very interesting project which has in many ways brought us closer to our clients given the need for both parties to comply with many new pieces of legislation under short timeframes and with often unclear rules! Experian’s regulatory burden has essentially tripled in the EU alone. At the same time, jurisdictions like India and the Asia-pacific region continued to follow a similar approach, thus significantly increasing the complexity, the workload, and the regulatory burden for Experian.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In the last few years, we seem to have been living in a state of Semi-Perma crisis. I have led on data incidents, cyber security situations, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and operational resilience processes, policies and procedures are of critical importance to manage through these events which take their patterns of ebbs and flows. The legal team are front and centre of all these crisis situations and play a key role in steadying the ship and giving sound counsel to key decision makers often without the full set of facts. Being able to form a view quickly, understanding the key pieces of legislation and having a plan are key. Tabletop exercises simulating a crisis is another resilience exercise we regularly actively take part in.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

Attending an Anton Pillar order hearing in a virtual South African court room during the Covid Pandemic and working with law enforcement to raid the fraudsters house!

What do you think sets you apart from other in-house counsel?

I have lived and worked in Europe, UK, USA and Latin America and have now managed teams from Colombia to Sydney, China to South Africa. Languages are a particular passion and being able to converse with people in their local language is something that I think helps to differentiate me from others.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

Strong legal expertise is a given so modern in-house counsel need to really understand their business. What is it that X company does. How does it make money, how can I help through navigating regulation to outsmart the competition, be strategic, and have excellent communication skills. Building solid relationships and gaining the trust of your exec colleagues along with peers and others is key to success. Being AI savvy is now increasingly important in many organisations and will continue to grow in importance for lawyers to understand along with cybersecurity laws and compliance.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

Boxing is a sport I took up several years ago. Great way to stay fit and healthy. One thing it has also taught me: Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth!