Team size: five

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

The role of the in-house counsel has evolved to become more of a strategic business partner that supports the organisation, gets involved in strategic decisions by providing legal advice, works to improve processes, and assists in navigating complex challenges while being accountable for their actions and decisions. By becoming an integral part of the executive team, group legal teams can create and implement solutions beyond providing legal advice. They get empowered to turn into decision drivers rather than mere legal consultants.

The legal group must have specific key skills: (a) technological acumen might sound evident since virtually all modern professionals need to master technology in their fields. However, in the case of legal professionals, becoming well versed in the latest legal tech becomes more pressing to cover the aspect of nanotechnology. From automating manual processes like group legal holds to managing contracts, the number of processes that can be streamlined through available legal technology is endless with new policies and SOPs to guide the process; (b) innovative spirit closely related to tech-savviness. Group legal must think out of the box and keep a creative spirit to build resilience and come up with original and quick solutions to new challenges every year to ensure we evolve and are efficient in making any decision; (c) clear communication — it is in our best interest to be understood as quickly and effectively as possible.

Currently, the legal team is using the Intellectual Property Management system offered by Questel. The primary purpose of this system is to ensure all IPs under NanoMalaysia Berhad are managed efficiently and effectively for all IPs filling, execution, and timeline. Based on the result of the usage of the system, the management is starting to consider and position the legal team as strategic business partners rather than just another expense. Legal departments need to constantly drive change, prove their worth and demonstrate why they are key assets to their companies.