Three BHP legal teams are headquartered in Southeast Asia, being Group General Counsel, Legal Operations and Transformation and Commercial Legal

Team size: Globally: 113, Southeast Asia: 27
Key team members: Southeast Asia – Lyndon Arnall , Eloise Pullin  and Claire Evans . Commercial Legal includes three sub-teams lead by Roger Allingham Dominic Ward and Tig Pocock

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

BHP legal’s Southeast Asia team leads the legal support for a wide spectrum of complex commercial and technology transactions, as well as associated risk management efforts, spanning across BHP’s global operations. Notable recent achievements and areas of legal support include the negotiation of major sales and procurement contracts for BHP’s global operations – with a total value in the tens of billions. These contracts involve selling copper, iron ore, coal, and nickel produced by BHP, as well as procurement of mobile mining equipment and technology. The team also played a crucial role in managing supply chain risks amid a challenging external environment comprised of market volatility, geopolitical tensions, regulatory changes, and high inflation.

The team has also been involved in decarbonisation efforts, negotiating a wide range of agreements to help BHP reach its target of achieving net-zero operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, and to collaborate with the industry to reduce emissions throughout BHP’s entire value chain. Key agreements include the procurement of renewable energy for BHP’s operational assets, partnering with BHP’s customers to explore emission-reduction technologies in steelmaking, supporting the shipping industry’s decarbonisation efforts, and purchasing voluntary and regulatory carbon credits.

Finally, the team has been focused on the future growth of the company. The team was involved in BHP’s US$6.4bn acquisition of OZ Minerals, focused on the commercial and technological aspects. This strategic move enhances BHP’s copper and nickel portfolio, aligning with our goal to meet increasing demand and support the energy transition.

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 have developed a Legal Purchase Order (PO) tool that improves and streamlines the process of engaging external legal counsel. This tool ensures consistent and standardised data collection, allowing us to conduct more detailed data analysis of external spending and draw insights to influence decision-making. Notably, this project was resourced internally and built using existing enterprise technology, making it a cost-effective and efficient solution.

Additionally, we constructed and continue to maintain our “Legal How We Work” portal, serving as our internal collaboration platform. This portal contains key resources outlining our standard processes, such as onboarding and financial management, as well as our approach to significant topics like development and communication. This initiative was also cost-effective as it was resourced internally and built using the existing enterprise technology.

Can you sum up the team culture or ethos?

The BHP legal team’s purpose is to ‘advice enabling the future.’ Quality, culture, and diversity are at the heart of our team. We are trusted and accomplished partners in business, focused on creating solutions that promote BHP’s growth objectives, ensure safe and efficient operations, and address social value priorities. Our lawyers proactively anticipate challenges and leverage opportunities in an ever-evolving external landscape. We aim to create a safe, inclusive, engaged, and forward-thinking team, by empowering and supporting our people through a workplace culture that is built on respect and relationships.

Does your team make use of interesting tech solutions to streamline its workload?

To tackle the identified needs and challenges around matter management, demand management, and value articulation, we have employed SharePoint Hubs to establish lists for matter management. These lists are complemented by corresponding PowerBI Dashboard data visualisations, enabling teams visualise key matters, track demand across teams, and promptly demonstrate the value they bring to the business, among other capabilities.