Team size: Two

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

2022 saw significant advancements in Volvo’s product offering, with electric trucks and buses in high demand. We have had to reflect the differences between traditional diesel products and the all-important battery element of the electric product in our commercial offering, contracts and all associated supporting material. This has involved a lot of collaboration across business areas and prioritising multiple competing demands from across the Group.

We have also needed to consider regulatory issues regarding electric products in the Australian market. The journey in relation to electric-heavy vehicles is only just beginning in Australia. There will be several exciting opportunities to collaborate with Volvo Group Australia, our customers and partners to continue the decarbonisation of the transport industry.

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

The rise of AI will be very interesting to follow. In-house legal teams have been exploring and introducing legal technology to attempt to identify the lower-level, repetitive tasks. This will allow in-house lawyers to focus on the areas where they can be a value-add as experts in their business, and also find personal satisfaction in working on interesting and stimulating topics. AI has the potential to significantly accelerate in-house teams’ ability to introduce legal technology. It also has the potential to change the way in-house teams work with law firms, in terms of the types of tasks that can be done by AI and simply reviewed by a lawyer for quality. This may have broader implications for the training and development of junior lawyers generally!

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

I don’t think the qualities are necessarily industry specific. I think an effective in-house lawyer is someone who can listen, ask questions (I learn something new about trucks almost daily), process information and provide a clear, easily understandable answer, suggestion or perspective. These solutions should be immediately usable for the person seeking the support or input. I often refer to my role as part lawyer, part teacher, as I have truly succeeded only if I have built someone’s legal, risk and governance understanding so that they walk away from that interaction a bit more prepared to face a similar situation in the future.