<strong>Team size:</strong> Six direct reports and 25 indirect reports

<strong>What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?</strong>

The implementation of tariffs by the U.S. government on foreign-made IT equipment has required legal mitigation strategies, including the contractual use of FTZ warehouses. Key actions by the team have included working with Export Compliance to ensure accurate HTS classification and developing contingency plans to address trade, legal, and operational risks.

Another area of sustained involvement has been entering into factoring arrangements to improve company liquidity, accelerate working capital, and support growth without taking on debt. The legal work is centered on negotiating robust factoring agreements in compliance with applicable accounting principles to achieve the desired improvement to the company’s balance sheet. In parallel, close coordination with outside counsel is critical to obtain a true sale opinion to finalize the transaction.

Finally, a constant, albeit unglamorous, focus has been the closure of dormant legal entities to avoid the costs and liabilities associated with maintaining inactive companies. What may appear simple is often a cumbersome and complex process that can take several months to complete and may result in tax liabilities, legal penalties, and potential lawsuits if formal dissolution procedures are not properly followed.

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

First and foremost, identifying and understanding the causes of instability or crisis is essential to the effective management of the associated legal issues. Once this assessment has been completed, the Legal function would develop a roadmap to address anticipated challenges arising from the identified causes.

For example, where company data has been compromised, Legal would take proactive steps to ensure compliance with data protection and cybersecurity laws across the affected jurisdictions. Where geopolitical turmoil is anticipated, Legal should ensure that relevant force majeure provisions are identified and invoked in a timely manner to support business continuity. Financial instability, in turn, should be addressed through enhanced scrutiny of customer contracts, including covenants, hardship provisions and cross-default clauses, together with early identification of customer insolvency risks.

Irrespective of the source, during periods of instability or crisis, legal teams must accelerate the shift from reactive advisors to integrated decision-makers, placing unprecedented emphasis on risk assessment and proactive mitigation. Achieving this requires clear and uninterrupted communication both upwards and downwards to ensure that issues are addressed and resolved in a timely and precise manner throughout the legal organisation.

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

During my tenure at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York City, I represented U.S. financial institutions and underwriters in connection with loan financings to, and Rule 144 offerings by, Native American nations, as part of what was then known within the firm as the Indian Country practice group.

<strong>Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?</strong>

Accounting due diligence in M&A acquisitions of family-owned businesses should examine more closely whether the target’s core business activities are properly and accurately reflected on the balance sheet in accordance with applicable accounting principles.

<Strong>What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?</strong>

The primary factor is the need for specialised expertise typically associated with legally intensive, complex or high-risk matters, followed by capacity constraints, geographic requirements and cost-effectiveness. Performance is assessed primarily on the basis of quality of work, speed and cost.