About

‘Throughout my career to date, I have had the enviable task of establishing a legal department in the organisations that I have worked in. Therefore, my remit has always been clearly defined – improve efficiency, reduce risk, help enter new markets and ensuring all legal risks are mitigated’, says Karim El Dardiry on his overall objectives as an in-house counsel. He has undoubtedly succeeded in this in his position as legal director for the Middle East and Africa at Eaton Corporation since originally joining from Total in Egypt in 2014. When discussing his theory of how to succeed as general counsel, El Dardiry says ‘I firmly believe that in-house legal counsel need to be guardians of the ship, have the ability to give clear constructive feedback and leadership advice to business divisions. So, we must take a wider scope and look beyond the legal argument and take into account other factors that can envelope into a risk, such as auditors, reputation and customers’. In terms of his specific achievements with Eaton, El Dardiry mentions the compliance work he has done as having been extremely effective: ‘As a US-originated organisation, most of practices and policies are very US-influenced and not reflective of the local markets, so we had to localise new contracts, standardise local approval levels for risk decisions so that we are capable and ready for the local markets where we operate. As the sole counsel, managing over 10 countries, and 300-plus employees in the Middle East, and supporting all M&A deals in the Middle East and Africa, I have the responsibility of spreading knowledge to the masses. I have been known to have increased legal awareness in respected business units through tailored training sessions which entail ethics, compliance, contract basics, risks associated with contracts and effective ways for risk mitigation for non-legal staff’. As importantly, he has been tireless in the protection of Eaton’s products and brand. ‘Eaton has been working with relevant authorities from across the region, to stop the use of counterfeit electrical products across residential and commercial outlets. To help eradicate this issue, we have successfully won several cases across the Middle East and North Africa region which has resulted in government and customs authorities enforcing more stringent measures to help identify counterfeit products’, he says.