Team size: Middle East Legal Team: 34 / AME: 90 

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense? 

We determined that post the Covid-19 period, having a team spread over 20 countries required a concerted attempt to bring people back together, F2F where possible, and virtually. To enable interaction, we ensured each individual had reliable and secure VC capability to remove the geographical barrier between us. Which enabled:  

Cross-Cluster on-site (virtually or in person) – communicating and networking are crucial to the effectiveness of our Legal team and how we deliver our strategic advice to stakeholders seamlessly. These onsites also provide an opportunity to informally receive feedback from key stakeholders, as we invite speakers from the CEO, COO or Business areas to update us on their priorities, as well as build teamwork across our legal team of experts. The impact of such on-site has drastically improved the way we work as a legal function and create a true collegiate bond.  

We offered multiple Short-Term Assignments – exposure to business areas such as Financial Markets trading- where virtual hands-on work experience for our West Africa talent is provided by them joining our DIFC trading floor team for three months. 

How do you balance your responsibilities as a GC with your involvement in dispute resolution and M&A matters? 

Through seamless collaboration and strategic organisation design of the AME legal team, which now includes a regional head of disputes and government investigations role, regional employment legal specialist, and by working alongside M&A Legal specialist teams to complement the broader role of the Regional General Counsel (RGC). In a recent example of the Bank’s divestment across multiple markets in Africa and the Middle East, the role of the RGC has been pivotal in representing the Legal function to the Regional CEO and sitting on the project steering committee. Through strong leadership, clear communication and transparency, the breadth of matters across high-profile disputes and M&A matters, in addition to legal matters arising across 26 legal jurisdictions, can be balanced with prioritisation and organisation soft skills being key. 

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years? 

In-house lawyers need to clearly understand and appreciate the business they work in. Focusing on legal issues in isolation without a deep commercial understanding limits the lawyer’s effectiveness. To some degree, technical information can be considered an area where technological advances in AI will provide low-cost solutions.  

The desire to learn about the business and the enthusiasm to regularly communicate with others (often outside the legal department) provide a platform for an enjoyable and successful career as an in-house lawyer and provide the human element that AI will struggle to replicate.  

As general counsel, my role rapidly evolved to chief integrity officer. I am regularly asked for my ‘gut feel’ or direction on what we should do, recognising how we are trained to think and assess problem-solving. We may not always come up with visionary ideas- but our opinions as commercial and experienced lawyers are considered highly valuable if we position ourselves as more than just technical experts.