Team size: Over 40

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

The team has focused on expanding both business and teams after the pandemic contraction. Emerging from the pandemic, it was clear that travel was on a path of recovery (albeit with regional variations), which required the company to start investing in future growth and support existing services. Hiring has been a key priority and we have been able to strengthen the team. We have also made investments into better technology and tools to bring the legal team to the next level, including a new contract management system. Besides these critical people and operational initiatives, the legal team has been supporting several new initiatives and products that are being added to the platform, all in addition to the BAU. This includes further expansion of travel offerings as we shift to a one stop travel platform offering flights, attractions as well as accommodation. We also supported a certain number of fintech innovations.

If you have worked in other countries, what are the main challenges unique to operating as an in-house counsel in your current location?

We have a multicultural and diverse team based in different locations (Bangkok, Singapore, New York and Shanghai). I have previously lived and worked in Brussels, London and Singapore. While Bangkok is an exhilarating Asian metropolis with much to offer, there are unique challenges. There are expats and a good pool of local talent, but work mobility is not as fluid as in cities like Singapore with more regional or global multinational corporation headquarters, which makes recruiting harder at times. The cultural aspects make Bangkok an amazing place to work but it sometimes requires adjustments for international and local talent.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Future proofing a modern in-house team means the legal team will need to be even more integrated into the business, learning to talk about the function in a way that resonates. It will need to demonstrate a good understanding of the strategic priorities, different products, technologies and KPIs set by teams. This should, in turn, lead to ownership and ensuring legal is seen as a stakeholder and a true enabler while–of course–responsibly managing risk and keeping the company out of trouble. The time when a legal team (both internal and external) could dispense advice with a series of “buts and ifs” is over; now a real engagement is expected. Of course, any good lawyer will caution and qualify advice and assume the assumptions on which it is based are correct, and that is the duty of the business partner to explain clearly, but he or she will need to be pragmatic, succinct and clear.