Team size: 3

Focus on: The changing role of in-house counsel

We have seen significant changes in the legal profession and in different sectors all over the world recently. Due to my work in the energy industry, I have witnessed the need for in-house counsel to respond and drive change in business practice as well.

Diversification of energy sources is a matter of critical importance to me, both from a business and personal perspective. We are all aware of climate change, as it is impossible to ignore. But at the same time, I feel passionately that the world is not at a place where we can just turn off oil and gas energy sources. Oil and gas will remain a key part of the energy mix for several more decades and we have seen the impact of years of underinvestment in such projects, as the cost of energy has rocketed. There needs to be energy transition on a gradual basis which balances the cost of energy while recognising the impact of climate change.

At Lamprell, we have a strategy committed to dividing the business into three business units of renewables, oil, gas and digital. This is very closely aligned with the concept of diversification of energy sources and our legal team works to influence and contribute to that strategy through the effective delivery of services to our internal clients. We strive to be good communicators to a broad spectrum of people, capable of understanding specific business risks and providing simple solutions – often to complex problems. Different people will have different levels of understanding of the business or varying priorities and so we, as in-house lawyers, need to be able to tailor the delivery of our advice accordingly. I have noted on multiple occasions that a lawyer who does not sit on the fence on an issue but rather takes a firm preference towards one option which recognises the business realities, gains credibility with directors.

In parallel with the changes in the energy industry we have already seen significant impacts of technology on the provision of legal services over the last five years which has been accelerated by the impact of Covid, including cloud-based conference rooms and increased ease of access to information. Looking forward, we are likely to see more use of smart contracts, particularly in areas where agreements can be commoditised to a high degree, such as with regards to procurement. This will help improve consistency of terms, reduce costs and enable wider access to legal services. Predictive analytics is an exciting field because it will help to enhance performance through data analysis and reduce the risk of errors. We are still distant from this being part of our everyday legal lives, but these last 2-3 years have proven that lawyers are willing to adapt to technological developments.

Supply chain costs are under pressure across the board and legal budgets are no different; we must embrace ways to give access to better legal services, whether through greater use of technology, driving causes that we are passionate about or just simply being there to propose sensible solution to address client concerns.