Focus on the role of general counsel as a leader of change in the modernisation of the legal team

In recent years the role of the general counsel has become extremely complex. What used to be first class is now the bare minimum. We are required to do more with less, due to changes at the macroeconomic level. Regulation in every country has become increasingly complex and its breach brings historically high fines and penalties. Globalisation causes issues in one country to have an impact on others. The age of social media makes us think much more carefully about the non-legal effects of valid legal actions. And the ups and downs of the economy require us to watch our budget like never before and always push to get more value for each dollar spent.

These challenges have made us more sophisticated in the management of external resources and fee agreements with law firms. It has also made us better at communicating legal costs, benefits and risks to our business stakeholders. And consequently, we have become closer to the business, with greater commercial knowledge and more financial skills.

But these changes are not enough. At a time when the challenges we face are not static, but progressively more intense, we must adopt deeper changes. Let innovation become second nature to us. Profoundly change the way we work and think. Critically review our processes as we were not lawyers but engineers. Evolve.

For years we have discussed about how we need to change our mentality, adjust our operating models, and implement technology solutions to conduct our processes. But this is harder than it sounds. The average lawyer is not the professional most prone to change. Perhaps it is because of the nature of legal practice, which constantly has us looking back for precedents, or at rules that tend to change infrequently. It could be said that innovation is not our strength. But reality is that there are immense changes occurring all around us. Our business partners are all hopping on board, and so must we. Not doing so puts us at considerable risk of becoming irrelevant professionals.

I believe these changes, although radically important, do not necessarily require a substantial effort from the general counsel. The first step is to seriously welcome innovation and promote it in their teams. And those who feel that they do not have the knowledge and skills required to promote the changes needed, should look to add people to their teams who do, and let them be the agents of change that take their teams to the next level.

My purpose in my new roles as general counsel and global legal operations is to lead projects that allow Orica’s legal area to grow, by optimising the processes of our legal team. Creating a legal operations area in Orica is a much-needed step that will allow us to catch up with the changes adopted by the business.