Can you describe a time when legal had to balance risk mitigation with enabling business innovation?

Xiaomi is a technology company, constantly reinventing itself and undertaking new ventures. My job as a lawyer is to, while recognising the risks, look for ways to make the project work. Ultimately, there will always be ways to defend ourselves, but opportunities missed due to risk will disappear.

How do you build and maintain strong relationships with key internal stakeholders, especially in high-pressure or fast-moving scenarios?

I try to act less as a lawyer when I talk to my clients and try to understand their pain so I can respond with something that helps resolve it. I don’t just think about risks, I think about how to carry out the project they have.

Lawyers, I think, should only become lawyers in two scenarios: litigation and reputational crisis. In everything else, we should be as close to the core of the business as possible.

Does that make us sloppy and unprofessional? No, it doesn’t. Clients come to us because they want a solution. Our clients want us to help them reach a goal, to get from point A to point B. Our job is to build a bridge to make that happen.

What do you consider the biggest challenge for in-house legal teams today, and how are you addressing it within your own team?

I could say the classic strategic partner approach, but that would be trite. The real challenge is to stop being a lawyer and become a real problem solver, someone who looks for more “ifs” and less “why nots”.

Knowing the law only makes you a lawyer, what differentiates you and gives you value is listening, understanding, and proposing a solution that works, but not just a legal answer. Don’t recite the law. Listen, understand, ask questions to clearly establish the point, and then propose the solution that works for your client, not the one you prefer from your legal ego.