Team size: 14

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

The acquisition of 50% of the shares in a prime located hotel under construction in Singapore, and the negotiation of a shareholders and hotel management agreement for the first Avani branded hotel in Singapore.

We successfully negotiated the licensing of Minor food brands and sub-licensing of the Dairy Queen and Swensen’s brands into Indonesia; the franchising of the Sanook Kitchen brand in India; and the franchising of the Benihana brand through South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The team and I also successfully negotiated the licensing of Minor’s hotel brands into Japan.

In addition, alongside others in the team I: managed Minor’s intellectual property protection strategy and rolled out new brands for both the hotel and food groups; negotiated and arranged for the completion and expansion of Minor Hotel’s existing projects in Indonesia and China; negotiated and establish a joint venture to own and operate the Tai Cheong Bakery brand in Thailand; assisted with the restructuring of our corporate entities in the Middle East; and represented Minor as director in joint ventures in Singapore and China.

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

Legal professionals, such as in-house counsel, have the advantage of being able to rely on a solid basis of legal frameworks when dealing with periods of instability or crisis. These legal frameworks, whether they are laws or strongly negotiated and worded contracts, provide a level of certainty and a roadmap of mechanisms in the event of instability and crisis, which gives the legal professional the ability to stay composed. The frameworks give the legal team a solid place to land and focus when the company is in a period of turmoil and also allow the legal team to support other teams that may need to make adjustments on a day-to-day (or faster) basis. This composure and focus allow us to provide the best advice and a level of clarity and direction to other teams within organisation when other teams are dealing with the uncertainty which accompanies periods of instability and crisis.

Minor’s legal team is seasoned, and our confidence in our agreements plus our experience in navigating numerous crises gives us the vital ability to take our organisation through frightening and disruptive periods by providing clear and practical advice. We manage legal aspects — and the support of our teams — through our own composure in the face of instability, crisis and panic. Panic is not a luxury a successful lawyer can afford.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

The most rewarding experiences I have as a lawyer are those projects that I fully negotiate and then carry through to execution. During Covid, I had the good fortune of negotiating and finalising our joint venture project in China, which currently operates our hotels within that country. After the successful establishment of the joint venture, I was appointed to the board of directors and have been involved with the development of our brands within China and the operation of the hotels to date. The hands-on involvement with a project from birth and through the development of its life is incredibly fulfilling and exciting — these are the types of experiences tha stand out the most in my career.

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

It is important for a modern in-house counsel to be flexible but not brittle. An effective in-house counsel must be able to clearly and succinctly lay out the risks in all transactions, but at the same time the counsel must understand the company’s appetite for risk and think ahead to ways of mitigating risks. It is not the position of an in-house counsel to dissuade the company from carrying out business — but rather to allow the company to move forward with all information necessary to make educated decisions and transactions. At the same time, it is not the in-house counsel’s position to represent or blindly accept “cowboy” mentalities seeking opportunities with zero visibility of risk. The modern in-house counsel summarises risks, educates the company’s decision makers, mitigates risk as much as possible, but is not a pushover who ignores or look past risks.