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What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

The most important transactions in which I’ve been involved over the past two years have delivered on our company’s core strategic objectives to decarbonise, digitalise and decentralise energy systems, and have helped position ENGIE ANZ for growth in energy related services. These include the closure of the Hazelwood coal fired generation plant and mine and rehabilitation of the site. The rehabilitation of a brown coal mine of this magnitude is the first of its kind in Australia and has raised significant legal and regulatory challenges.

There has also been the sale of Loy Yang B coal fired generation plant in January 2018, as well as launching a Virtual Power Plant in South Australia, which utilises technology to connect solar and battery storage systems of customers to form a “virtual” power plant which can charge or discharge electricity to help support the grid when needed.

Lastly, the August 2019 completion of the development and construction of 119MW Willogoleche wind farm in South Australia, which utilises the largest wind turbines installed in Australia to date and is capable of powering 80,000 homes.

Have any new laws, regulations or judicial decisions greatly impacted your company’s business or your legal practice?

The price and reliability challenges borne from Australian energy policy implementation are highly topical and emotive issues, affecting and mobilising a wide range of stakeholders including consumers, businesses, regulators, NGOs, climate-change activists and law-makers.

Following significant investigations into the energy sector, state and federal governments have implemented a wide-ranging set of reforms which have materially altered the regulatory environment in the energy sector, and impacted our business operations.

One such change is the introduction of default market offers across New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria, whereby tariffs are set by the relevant regulator and effectively introduces a price cap for certain customers. This change represents a major shift towards price re-regulation which arguably restricts competition and stifles innovation in energy markets.

Other reforms include new potential powers for government, with the approval of the Federal Court, to force companies to divest generation assets to increase competition in the market. As a company with both a large-scale generation and an energy retailing business, these reforms have required our business to adapt quickly in order to remain competitive and compliant with law.

The Legal team has been involved in advising on the legal impacts of these reforms, and importantly has also been critical in planning and implementing response strategies.

As a member of ENGIE Australia and New Zealand’s executive committee, what do you feel is the main benefit to the business in having a lawyer at this level of the organisational structure?

As professionals, lawyers are generally valued for their technical skills, detailed knowledge of relevant laws and regulations and negotiation expertise. Increasingly, this acumen also extends to complementary functions such as ethics, governance and risk.

However, in my view, the key benefits of having a lawyer as a member of the executive or senior leadership team are the skills that we bring to the group beyond pure legal expertise. Our insights, commercial acumen and balanced judgment contribute to strategy, drive commercial outcomes, assist in developing customer solutions and shape the direction and culture of a business.

When we’ve spoken to you in the past, you have explained that you have taken the lead in strategic objectives related to ENGIE’s “energy transition”, including de-carbonisation and a move to cleaner fuels. What advice would you give fellow in-house counsel dealing with challenges related to such fundamental changes in business strategy?

At ENGIE, business strategy isn’t something which is developed by a small group of executive team members and then communicated to staff. It is an iterative and collaborative process, which involves the proactive cultivation and debate of ideas from senior leaders, future leaders and emerging talent within the business, while directly involving our shareholders.

In my experience managing organisational change or responding to external forces, I’ve found it is critical to “bring people along the journey” to encourage as much buy-in and engagement as possible at the right juncture. Once the strategy is set, however, the time for debate is over and we need to foster alignment. It is very important that leaders take the time to clearly explain to teams and individuals where they fit in that overall strategy, how they can contribute to deliver that strategy and then set KPIs accordingly.

We typically operate in new environments full of ambiguity or uncertainty, particularly during periods of fundamental change. I encourage all in-house counsel to be resilient, adaptable and have an open mind to change.

What legal and management trends do you see having an impact in your market?

As in-house legal teams are constantly challenged to deliver more with less, the increased use of technology and innovative solutions continues to be a key trend. Within the ENGIE ANZ legal team, we are using technology to allow us to respond faster and provide better service to more stakeholders. High volume, low value tasks are being automated from contract preparation to execution and we will use collected data to identify areas for further improvement. We are also investing in tools to better manage workload and service delivery demands. These initiatives have helped to achieve my ambition for all members of the Legal team to be able to work flexibly.

If you had to give advice to an aspiring in-house lawyer or general counsel what would it be and why?

My top tips for aspiring in-house lawyers are build partnerships with business colleagues, strong interpersonal relationships are a key ingredient to success. Learn and understand the business, in particular the key drivers, strategic direction, strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities and technical operations – it gives instant credibility. Communicate openly, clearly and fearlessly and don’t compromise on your ethics and integrity. Celebrate shared successes – allow yourself a moment to sit back, contemplate what you and the team have accomplished and use that energy to propel and motivate you to achieve ever better things.