About

A quartet of lawyers led by Shoshana Shields, director of legal and general counsel for Australia and New Zealand, comprise the legal team for online marketplace eBay in the region. Shields states the team is ‘extremely well liked and highly valued by the business for its proactive and intelligent approach to the issues’. Highly motivated to attaining the most efficient way of working possible, initiatives including improved contact processes and management have been implemented in the recent past, Shields claiming these ‘add high value to the business allowing it to operate at an extremely high level’. Able to speak the language of its business partners, the team communicates through ‘clearly articulated legal guidelines and feedback’ across several business areas, which enables business partners to ‘navigate the relevant legal issues and identify areas of risk’ allowing for the legal team to spend time on more strategic projects. Further endorsement of the team’s work came through its recognition via a nomination for a Luminary Award for ‘the outstanding achievement, extreme talent and high value of the team to the business’, which is unusual to be bestowed on a legal team. Despite its relatively compact size Shields’ ‘inventive, engaged and driven’ team punches above its weight in terms of its value to the business, Shields is particularly proud of team efforts that stray from a strictly legal remit, including: ‘Partnering with the business for a range of exciting new developments on the site, including extended warranty projects, enabling better returns in the ecommerce environment, having dynamic and workable IP solutions in respect of being a large online platform, and partnering with some great retailers to offer the best online retail experience to our customers and improve retail standards online’.