About

Amongst a select group of lawyers known as pioneering in-house legal professionals recognised for their development of legal operations, Sheldon Renkema – Wesfarmers general manager of legal – takes a place at the forefront of Australia’s corporate counsel community. His role in the ASX 50 telecoms company oversees legal support to Wesfarmers’ department stores (Kmart and Target) and industrial and safety businesses, as well as advising Wesfarmers’ corporate office on major corporate transactions.

Before its divestment, he also oversaw legal support for Wesfarmers’ operated metallurgical coal mine, Curragh. Renkema is currently leading a legal operations group that is working on measuring the value that the internal legal team brings to the organisation and improving the contribution it makes through adopting new ways of working, resources and technologies. He is a participant in the Australian chapter of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) and has also established the CLOC group in Perth, attempting to ensure in-house legal teams are “future ready” and can take advantage of the opportunities created by legal technology. In order to achieve this within Wesfarmers, Renkema is in charge of an internal group working to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness of the Wesfarmers legal team by adopting new technologies and changes to work practices.

Renkema began his legal career at international law firm Minter Ellison, practicing between 2000 and 2004 acting on business acquisitions and divestments, providing general corporate law advice and drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts. His first in-house role was as a legal counsel at BHP Billiton before he joined Wesfarmers and saw his career blossom through a number of different positions where he remains to this day.