Team size: 3

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 the organisation’s resilience?

Amidst geopolitical uncertainties, evolving regulatory landscape, increasing regulatory requirements and globalisation trends, a proactive crisis management planning has become fundamental. In collaboration with Risk Management, a risk assessment is run periodically to identify inherent risks, set controls and bring out residual risks. A current ‘heat map’ is maintained and regularly reviewed. Planned effective response to crisis and crisis management techniques are developed with functional divisions, particularly O&M, HSE and Risk to ensure business continuity. Instability is mitigated with increasing focus on operational efficiency, sustainability practices, optimising technology adoption, cybersecurity and data governance, talent acquisition and development.

Legal strategy observes the short and long terms corporate objectives with a focus on regulatory compliance, corporate governance and optimisation of business support. Legal department OKRs and KPIs are set towards the greater corporate objectives, sensibly measured and carefully monitored. Continuous professional development of legal team and close collaboration with business units are allocated great deal in the implementation of the legal department strategy.

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

Navigating an increasingly intricate regulatory landscape, geopolitical uncertainties, and rapid technological advancements, in-house (general) counsel responsibly is unavoidably evolving from legal functionary to legal strategist. A modern in-house (general) counsel must be seen as business enabler driving results delivery. Amongst the most significant attributes of an “effective” general counsel is the ability to shape the overall business strategy. For that they would be expected to demonstrate: solid understand of the corporate culture, business acumen and a strategic business decision drive; resilience and adaptability to business needs; crisis management ability; emotional intelligence and people management; and the ability to foster corporate conscience and set the tone for its ethical culture.

A modern in-house counsel is also expected to: understand globalisation trends and regulatory requirements e.g. ESG, DEI, best global practices, AI, CSR, data protection, etc, yet observe the corporate appetite and openness to transformation in introducing and implementing such change factors; have the ability to manage an indispensable legal department through running effective legal operations, developing proper legal strategies stemming from the organisation greater objectives, optimising resources and budgets and collaborating with business units for proactive approach to business needs; set and meet stakeholder(s) expectations; and invest in their contentious professional learning and development.