Head of Legal, The Americas (Agoda and Rocket Travel) | Agoda
Paulette Fox
Head of Legal, The Americas (Agoda and Rocket Travel) | Agoda
What are the projects that you are most proud of working on over the past 12 months?
I always say that the proudest achievement of my tenure with Agoda has been building my legal team. In particular, this past year has proven to be quite meaningful, as I have continued to build this uniquely qualified, all-star hybrid team (adding two new hires), across two diverse functions of the company (both Agoda’s B2C and Rocket’s B2B areas of focus). The significant investment in my team, which includes developing a thoughtful team ethos reflective of a shared set of core values and ways of working (e.g. ‘approachable counsel,’ ‘solutions-focused lawyers,’ ‘trusted advisors’), is a cornerstone of my professional career.
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?
For those who work in fast-paced industries, as well as publicly traded companies, where the business and the surrounding regulatory environment can be quite dynamic, there is an ever-increasing need for proactive (versus reactive) counsel in order to deliver the right balance of integrity, transparency, and outspokenness. Ensuring that Legal has a ‘seat at the table’ is a means of delivering on one of the most important aspects of our function – i.e., the ‘lower case ‘c’ – counsel’.
What are the key things you prioritise to get the most out of your team?
As mentioned above, it is the theme of collaboration. We work towards a shared set of core values and ways of working to deliver legal counsel that is best in class, consistent, aligned with the business, and based on integrity, trust, and respect.
