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

I would say that to be an effective and successful in-house counsel, it is necessary: (i) to know the business inside and out; (ii) effective communication; (iii) to take a practical approach; (iv) to operate well in a fast-paced environment and (v) to jump in where and when needed.

How have you fostered a closer collaboration between the legal department and your business counterparts?

Improving cross-functional communication: Improved clarity of communication and bridging the gap between departmental silos are the key steps legal leaders can take to fertilise cross-functional communication.

Aligning legal and business goals: Legal leaders should aim to be interdisciplinarians who understand the operations and functions of other teams. With that knowledge, they can develop shared goals and provide appropriate legal consultancy.

Considering conflict an opportunity: Conflict is often viewed as a negative, and there can be an organisational tendency to try to avoid it. However, some conflict is healthy for a business. Conflict also shines a light on communication issues and provides an opportunity to further fine-tune inter-team communications. Legal leaders must learn when to compromise and when to push back, creating some conflict.

Leveraging technology and data organisation: new CLM system, internally developed (Legal IT Austria).

Do you have a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

Education— learning about whatever your major interests are as well as many side interests. The more you know the more personal power you have. Education comes in many forms, not just formal schooling. On the streets, personal research, read a lot and understand that what you read will be valuable and if not, quit reading about it, go on to that which will be of value for you. I support education in various ways. I have had a reasonably good one that has been learned in many ways through life, personal experience, learning from mistakes and not repeating them is also one of the best we all learn from.