In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use?

We have found that growing medium-sized law firms are able to provide excellent quality service fat lower costs, compared to some of the leading large law firms. This is because they are still eager—to perform better, show their capabilities, and grow.

I would like to see this renewed hunger and entrepreneurial drive in both big and small law firms, where the lawyers still dream big, offer excellent service, and don’t break your bank. I would like to see less traditional, and more innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in external law firms. Innovative law firms are not only tech savvy, but also offer fresh approaches and perspectives to legal complexities—perhaps brought about by a more diverse set of lawyers with backgrounds coming from information technology, engineering, or finance rather than the traditional political science or legal management backgrounds.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Corporate legal teams in this modern in-house industry need to have an entrepreneurial drive and become solution providers to their organisation, while remaining legal defenders. Corporate legal teams need to evolve from having a mere police mindset, to being business partners; knowing the business intricately and helping it navigate the complexities of this modern world.

A corporate lawyer cannot just say, “That is illegal, you cannot do it”. Rather, a corporate lawyer must be a problem solver, not saying what cannot be done, but providing acceptable solutions; “That may not be possible under the law but let us find a way around the legal complexities.”

The true advantage corporate legal teams have over external counsel is their ability to understand, and then help the business. In this regard, corporate lawyers need to thoroughly understand the financial, operational, and commercial aspects of the business to allow them to become solutions-oriented advisers.

The unusual business environment created by the pandemic has been swiftly followed by other shocks. Are you now putting more emphasis on preparing for the unforeseen and, if so, what does this entail?

The world has become unpredictable. Some of the things we once thought were stable are in fact, not. This exacerbated by maturing social media, and the advent of artificial intelligence and data science. Anticipating and preparing for future risks has always been a part of a lawyers’ role, especially in-house counsel. It has always been our job to anticipate potential problems or disagreements in a contract or potential disputes that can arise, by incorporating governance and controls in the agreements and documents that you prepare.

But today, preparing for the unforeseen has attained a new level of complexity. Emphasis must be placed on preparing for the unforeseen, and how to do it. This entails being resilient, knowing not just the transactional or local context, but also the global context, and being adaptable and agile.

As in-house lawyers, we now have to absorb a lot of input and translate this to workable frameworks, quickly adapt to the fast-changing regulatory environment, and understand the interconnectivity of every discipline and function. As in-house lawyers today, we cannot simply know the law – we must also be aware of and anticipate, among others, technology trends, geopolitical tensions, influences to laws and regulations, financial and economic motivators, and the ever-changing commercial transaction environment. This is how you prepare for the unforeseen.