About

What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

Compliance IDW 980 Certification. This is an adidas global project which aims to have the Compliance IDW 980 Certification granted globally. The external compliance audit team aimed to conduct a thorough compliance review in 12 markets including China in 2018. I took the lead on this project for adidas Greater China. The process includes a complete compliance risk assessment, an online survey run by KPMG, reviews and updates of all compliance policies, compliance interviews, compliance onsite audit and more. In January 2019, KPMG confirmed that adidas Greater China outperformed all the other markets in adidas Group. I invested a huge amount of time and efforts into this project and was credited for my work.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

We have to know how to use a more commercial language that is accessible and acceptable to explain the legal matters. In order to achieve that, we have to understand the internal decision making process and what would be the best time for the legal team to step in. The legal department is not just a rubber chop. We will not endorse any decisions if we don’t have a thorough understanding of the what, why and how behind it. We enable and escort the business teams.

In the meantime, we shall be collaborative, meaning we should try to be more interactive and make people accountable rather than just doing what we are asked for. Collaboration is different from cooperation. Being cooperative means you give solutions and answer questions whenever you are needed. But that only means you are responsive. It is more important to collaborate, when both sides take equal responsibilities. You identify an issue and tackle it together with the business team by dividing the work. Without input from the business team that knows the market and products better, the legal team cannot provide a solution that addresses the business target best by only looking at potential legal consequences. The legal team in the company has the responsibility to impart legal knowledge to the others and guide them through the complex legal world. The effective ways to do so include organising legal trainings for the others, producing legal guidance booklets for the commercial teams and so on. If you play a guidance role, things will be different. Instead of telling people what to do, you inspire them to take the lead. You ask open questions to inspire them to think and come back with a better proposal. This is a more interactive communication.

Have any new laws, regulations or judicial decisions greatly impacted your company’s business or your legal practice?

Basically, China is a very dynamic country. Evolvement of the PRC laws requires us to closely monitor the legislative development and deeply understand the macro economy and macro policy
of China so as to understand the logic behind the laws.

When selecting a law firm, what criteria do you evaluate the potential firms by?

Three main criteria: strong knowledge and technical skills, the ability to provide practical solutions and business sense.

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

First, understand the industry that you operate in, including your competitors, consumers and your own company. Second, understand the macro environment including macro economy and macro policy of the country that you operate in.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

In the next few years, I can see the in-house legal role becoming more multi-functional. We should have the abilities beyond legal areas, the more commercial knowledge and mind-set we hold, the more value we can add to the business. Of course, whatever we do, we shall do the things right. We need to play the legal role within the legal boundary but also try to be more creative.

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

We will focus on building an ecosystem of sports products and shopping experience. I will be more proactive in assisting the company to shape the strategy and integrate legal services into the business process.

FOCUS ON… Be a creator – integrate legal services into the business process I hold the view that a passive response to requests from business teams is less efficient and often comes too late for the legal department to evaluate the risks and provide practical recommendations to the company. Thus, I initiated a cross functional project aiming to build a working process of involving the legal department in the business decision with the stakeholders before a business model is framed. In 2018, under my leadership, the legal team successfully optimised the business processes in marketing, retail, operations and ecommerce functions. I always encourage the team to think outside the box and challenge the traditional way of working to improve efficiency and provide more value add to the business. Lawyers should not just judge black and white, rather we are creators to enable and protect our business, and I live with this philosophy.