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

Several lawyers in the Origin legal team have recently worked on a strategic and complex transaction to sell a 10% stake in Australia Pacific LNG, which owns the largest CSG to LNG project on the East Coast of Australia. After more than 12 months of extensive negotiations over many hours and weekends, Origin announced that it had entered into a sale agreement to sell the 10% interest for $2b to EIG, an international private equity firm with a strong history of investing in oil and gas projects. The transaction was challenging for several reasons including the need to structure the transaction to meet the requirements of the existing shareholders’ agreement, the complex acquisition and financing structure of the private equity buyer and needing to navigate the sometimes-competing interests of the other shareholders in the joint venture. To add to the complexity, prior to completion of the sale, one of the existing shareholders elected to exercise its pre-emptive rights in respect of the sale, and the sale changed from being to EIG to a sale to ConocoPhillips Australia. The sale is strategically especially important for Origin as the $2b received will free up Origin’s balance sheet and enable Origin to invest in new growth projects.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel? 

At the start of the pandemic, there was an opportunity for lawyers to demonstrate their value in a high stress environment when the impacts of the pandemic had to be urgently assessed and mitigated through contractual mechanisms and commercial renegotiations.

As the pandemic continued (for longer than anyone expected), lawyers have had a chance to demonstrate their resilience at a time of organisational fatigue and in many cases have earned a seat at a more senior decision-making level where they have demonstrated their skills and valuable perspective in a time of crisis.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

Technological advancement will assist with reducing repetitive tasks undertaken by lawyers by enabling the development of more sophisticated and flexible contract templates that can be used by the business. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will make acquisition, due diligence, and litigation discovery more efficient and cost effective, giving lawyers more time to focus on strategic decisions regarding those acquisitions and large disputes. Soon, smart contracts built on blockchains will become more common and change the way that businesses contract with each other, though the extent will depend on the level of sophistication that smart contracts can deal with.