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

The last year has been incredibly interesting for me and the companies I have been associated with. In 2021, I helped take Atotech — a global speciality chemicals company owned by The Carlyle Group — going public via an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. We then agreed to sell Atotech to a strategic buyer, MKS Instruments, in July 2021. After many months of working to achieve regulatory approval for the transaction in multiple countries, I joined Energy Vault in May 2022. Energy Vault went public in February 2022 via a de-SPAC merger and is now publicly traded under the ticker symbol NRGV. There have been multiple significant transactions over the past year, and I am fortunate enough to have had a front-row seat. None of these transformative transactions would have been possible without the amazing work of my teams at Atotech and Energy Vault, respectively.

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

The pandemic has accelerated a shift that was already underway in the role of the general counsel. Now, more than ever, the general counsel must be a true leader of the company, not just a subject-matter advisor. That leadership must come in the form of legal matters but also in cybersecurity, compliance, board management, safety, business acumen, strategy, and many other areas. The pandemic has brought into sharp relief the importance of the interaction and collaboration of the general counsel with all the business leaders — CFO, COO, CHRO, Sales, IT — not just the CEO. The companies with strong, cohesive leadership during the pandemic found success, whereas others only found obstacles.

How much influence do you, as a general counsel, have on the diversity and inclusion policies of your organisation?

This is an area where general counsel must assert themselves. Nobody hands a general counsel influence in this area —they must make it a priority, continuously learn from peers, and put those priorities into action.