What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

The number one challenge is getting buy-in from the team and see me and our entire legal team as a valuable business partner with a legal background and a strategic mindset. We are a startup moving into a scale up and when I started, we really had to start from scratch. Moreover, we are (already) a global company and getting buy-in and good working relationships, build on trust from behind your desk is challenging, and especially when I am asking difficult questions that, in the eyes of our business team, can slow down a deal. I believe we have accomplished an extraordinary relationship with everyone in the business and can really call our team ‘the spider in the web’.

Do you have an example of a time when you have come up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works that did not result in a large expense?

We are in the franchising business and as part thereof we have certain requisite terms that we would like to have in a lease agreement between our franchisee and their landlord. I have come up with the ‘lease rider’, which is like a side letter to the lease agreement between the franchisee and their landlord. It includes the requisite terms, and the franchisee is able to share this in an early stage with the landlord to streamline the negotiations, and there is no need to amend the actual language of the lease agreement. This not only saves a lot of time and cost on the landlord and franchisee’s side, but it also saves my team a lot of time on reviewing and amending the lease agreement for our franchisees. Now we simply review their lease agreement, check if the side letter is attached and we can move forward on the lease approval, where in the past this could take us weeks and a lot of frustration from our franchisee and also their landlord. People like this innovation so much that it was not only used on the international side of the business, but also the already long-established domestic side of the business in the US.

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

According to my former boss at DLA Piper, I reminded him of the NBA player Karl Malone a.k.a. ‘the mailman’ because I always deliver. I believe that an in-house lawyer needs to be seen as a trusted business advisor and in order to get there a relationship should be built on trust. One of the key elements of building trust is honouring your word, deliver (more than) what is asked and to have a strategic and commercial mindset.

The COO of The Social Gaming Group claimed: “I am delighted that Natalie is nominated for the Legal GC Powerlist. As her management team member and also her supervisor, I’ve observed her exceptional capabilities and dedication in her work as our Chief Legal Officer. Natalie is a people person, known for being caring and hospitable. She is straightforward, works hard, and sees the bigger picture beyond legal matters. Her empathy enables her to support and encourage colleagues, making her an invaluable team member. She is service-oriented and committed to our shared goals.”