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

Annata’s legal team recently spearheaded and concluded contract negotiations with one of the largest players in the Nordic automotive market. The negotiations involved developing a complex framework covering various types of commercial contracts, essentially revolving around the ownership of intellectual property rights. IP ownership is usually a sticking point in negotiations. However, due to the unique software solution provided by Annata, which is based on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 stack, we reached a happy conclusion involving the sale of many Annata365 proprietary software license sales including the provision of professional services, and most importantly opened the door for Annata to offer its solutions to powerful brands in the larger European automotive market.

How do you see the general counsel role evolving in Malaysia over the next five-ten years?

In the next five to ten years, the concept of a “local” general counsel will become obsolete. As businesses continue to scale, grow, and expand beyond Malaysia’s borders, it becomes even more important for to have a general counsel who has experience in cross-border transactions and negotiations. Therefore, a global general counsel with a global skill set will be in high demand in the near future. To be clear, although it is necessary to be a “jack-of-all-trades”, it is unrealistic to expect a global general counsel to have high legal competence in every jurisdiction around the world, but rather what is expected is the ability to take ownership, spearhead and manage global stakeholders in achieving business objectives. Most importantly, a global general counsel should not be afraid to get his hands dirty and do the grunt work when no one else is willing to take it.

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

I believe that is important for corporate legal teams to create a culture of service, go the extra mile and be as helpful and friendly as possible with everyone you meet in the business. Relationship building is very important and are crucial in determining how businesses see the value of the legal team. A good measure of this is to test how willing the average employee is to casually ask the legal team questions. Is it something they dread or something they can look forward to? Always aim to achieve the latter.

Be the business’s best friend, the whispers of corporate legal teams being “blockers” and “no departments” need to be a thing of the past. The team must go above and beyond to prove that it enables rather than kills deals. Granted, there may be difficult situations where the risk does not justify the reward, but this is where being practical, solution-driven and having a strong problem-solving mentality is the way to go. If all else fails, just make sure you have the ability to persuade and convince your partners of what you believe is right. Always trust your gut.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

For most extroverts be yourself, but make sure to listen and stop talking about yourself all the time. For introverts, become a trained extrovert. It is an indispensable skill in the world of work and very useful in building relationships. I find it helpful to have casual conversations with partners about trivial things that are not about business. This helps them get comfortable and breaks the stereotype of how they see most lawyers. You’ll find that the more time and effort you invest in being casual with them, the easier it will be to be professional and work with them. Conversations are essential.