Team size:   Four

What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

This year saw the culmination of a dispute resolution process in the construction arena which is not our core business. Learning and working with news laws, experts and advisors has been interesting and a good reminder that there is always opportunity to learn and grow and get out of your comfort zone. I have found it energising.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In my experience, legal, as a support function, is the quiet voice in the room, especially in times of instability or crisis and when emotions are high. My role is often just one of listening and understanding, even if legal’s role is not initially apparent. But I find that having a full picture, from the start of an issue, instead of coming in at the end, is often more efficient, gives a fuller picture and leads to better outcomes, ultimately.

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?

As an organisation, digital transformation is a key priority, and AI forms an important aspect of that. Tsebo conducts internal “communities of practice” across the group to discuss opportunities and use cases using AI across different functions, and whilst mindful of the pitfalls, our legal team is keeping curious and seeing how we can use AI to enhance performance.

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?

AI has been taken seriously as a potentially revolutionary technological change in the legal world for a number of years now. Has it had a meaningful impact in how your legal team works in this time? I wouldn’t say it’s been “meaningful” as yet but we are exploring, learning, joining “communities of practice” across our business to understand how others are using it inside Tsebo and once a month we get together to give each other ideas and examples of how we are using it in the legal space. It’s certainly exciting but we are quite cautious at present.