Team size: Five 

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?  

We created and rolled out an in-house power apps tool for wall-to-wall contract management, which automates the contract request from choosing templates to execution including approval workflow for seamless execution with different business stakeholders. This was built entirely in-house. 

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

This small India legal team oversees legal function for four varied business groups within 3M India, with each business group having its own issues and challenges. We are also responsible for all statutory and labour compliance, litigation management, environment health and safety issues including the overall country governance of 3M India. Being a publicly listed entity, we deal with a complex regulatory landscape on a regular basis. The legal department also supports and facilitates the various diversity and inclusion initiatives of the company. We have been successful in closing out major projects for 3M including supporting our global entities with their global restructuring transactions.  

If you had to give advice to an aspiring in-house lawyer or general counsel, what would it be and why?  

My advice is to remind every in-house counsel that the legal function is an integral part of business strategy and decision making. We are the connective tissue. It is therefore important to earn trust and confidence of peers and stakeholders. As a legal team, we need to always have a collaborative approach with our business stakeholders with strong focus on outcomes. We are the gatekeepers of the company with compliance being at the forefront of everything we do. Listen and absorb and always play inside the lines.