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

We are committed to offering our support and assistance to our dedicated Halal team throughout their journey to obtaining the prestigious halal certificate from Jakim, the esteemed Malaysian Department of Islamic Development. This allows us to proudly establish ourselves as the pioneering halal certified food delivery service in Malaysia, recognised for our unwavering commitment to meeting and exceeding halal standards.

We also play a crucial role in providing indispensable support to our Asia Pacific legal team as they work diligently towards finalising a strategic partnership with one of the foremost airlines in Malaysia. The partnership facilitates the optimisation of each platform’s unique strengths, resulting in an enhanced value proposition and increased convenience for users not only within Malaysia, but also in the future, beyond its borders.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Corporate legal teams must possess a deep understanding of their organisation’s industry, market dynamics, and overall business strategy. This business sense and understanding will allow the teams to provide rational legal advice and guidance that aligns with the company’s objectives and drive informed decision-making.

Embracing technology is crucial for modern legal teams. Teams should be adept at leveraging legal technology tools, such as contract management systems. Knowledge of cutting-edge technology like automation and artificial intelligence, can help increase productivity and simplify legal operations.

For in-house corporate legal teams, effective collaboration and communication skills are crucial. They must collaborate closely with various stakeholders, including peers, department heads, external counsel, and authority bodies. With clear and concise communication, it facilitates understanding, ensures compliance, and fosters solid working relationships.

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?

Before implementing our current contract management systems, we encountered a significant influx of requests from internal stakeholders seeking contract vetting and signing. To address the challenges associated with the high volume of requests and the need for efficient monitoring, we devised a streamlined solution using one of the available tools at our disposal.

By leveraging this platform, we successfully revamped the entire contract vetting and signing process and introduced a standardized request form for widespread adoption within the company. Notably, this initiative entailed zero financial expenditure while greatly enhancing our ability to track and monitor the quantity and progress of incoming requests. Furthermore, the built-in dashboard functionality on the website enables us to extract critical information for reporting and analysis purposes.