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

There have been a few. The introduction of a subscription offering in the Netherlands (Sonos Flex), launch of the latest IKEA speaker products incooperation with Sonos in Europe, the introduction of the Sonos Upgrade program and the launch of our Installed Solutions program. More generally speaking, preparation for Brexit, and crafting and implementing working from home policies in Europe.

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

In a fast-changing industry with complex ecosystems, effective collaboration is key to success. The pandemic with virtual meetings and working from home as a default scenario has increased the necessity to find better ways to efficiently collaborate in a global matrix setup. Thesmart use of technology and legal operations capabilities have become even more important.At the same time the social aspects of collaboration need special attention in a world where the “water cooler conversations” are less common. In-house counsel need to be more familiar with data-driven decision making to stay close to the various parts of the organisation.

What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how do you intend to assist with this?

The focus will be on staying nimble and even increasing agility. This requires fast decision making and the ability to keep innovative. Innovation requires the ability to try new things, to learn fast and to move on quickly. Our legal team will assist with this by improving our operational capabilities to create space and energy to focus on new approaches allowing quick testing and learning within the boundaries of the law.

What do you feel are the pros and cons of an in-house legal role compared to a private practice one?

There are several advantages of working in-house. General counsel influence decision making from the very beginning and have a deep understanding of the business and the organisation. There is also diversity of work, for example, being able to change your career path to a non-legal function and management experience. However, the cons are that there is a danger of becoming blind to how other organisations and industries operate and becoming a generalist losing subject matter expertise.