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

My team has led the legal strategy on several key projects this year, focused on customer outcomes and sustainable business performance, which have included new digital propositions, strategic domestic and international alliances, as well as acquisitions.

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

In my opinion, it will be fundamental to have experience and capabilities in data ethics and digital spaces, which will be critical for corporate legal teams to be able to keep the space in supporting business teams and company strategy. Additionally, strong collaboration capabilities will continue to be an essential skill for successful in-house lawyers. In-house teams will continue to be asked to do more with less, which means our strong legal skills are not enough to cut it. Legal team members also need to be business driven by having a clear understanding of our customers, sustainable business performance and markets, have sharp project management skills and embody a data driven mindset for the provision of in-house legal services.

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

Strong collaboration capabilities are critical for a successful in-house lawyer. I believe this is built by having extreme ownership of business outcomes. This means that in-house lawyers are invested in the whole. They own and share the customer, the business, and the challenges with business partners, from inception to successful business outcome.