Team size: 4

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

Without a doubt – the automation of the legal process and workflow. Automation can manage some of the more simple but crucial tasks that in-house legal counsel perform, including legal and caselaw research, facilitation and expediting approval from cross-functional departments inside a corporation (for example procurement and tax departments), invoice processing, editing contracts, identifying potential fraud or misconduct and finally the digital signature of contracts. Besides the above, technology can help reduce human error and potentially decrease overhead costs. It also enables in-house lawyers to see any gaps or update reports as needed on due time and frequencies.

Another advantage of adopting automation is that it leads to a better customer experience. Being able to produce customised legal documents quickly provides better experience and improves internal client satisfaction.

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

Technology, media and telecommunications law (TMT) deals with the movement of communications across various platforms, whether it’s television, print, the internet or mobile devices. As a matter of fact, TMT lawyers are at the rapid end of a quickly evolving area of law.

Legal services in the TMT sector include providing advice on the licensing of software and hardware and outsourcing arrangements. Much work focuses on new media and technology developments, such as the internet, mobile telephones, data protection and privacy laws, e-commerce issues and fraud prevention. As the world continues to move onto the internet in ever more incredible waves, this sector will simply continue to expand.

Having said that, the qualities required to be a successful TMT in-house lawyer will involve the ability to advise and draft agreements on new business, contractual work for new projects, licensing and rights distribution. A skillful TMT lawyer must show a proper understanding of its incorporation’s business and marketing plans to address all business, commercial and regulatory concerns before the commercial launches of new products.

What can law firms do to improve their service to the legal department?

I believe one of the essential elements which a law firm should concentrate on is understanding the assigned matter from the perspective of their client. To provide the best law firm customer service, the law firm must have a primary understanding of the client’s business nature, the related business challenges, the long-term objective, and maintain reasonable and ongoing communication with the client’s business team more than the in-house legal team, during the matter delivery. In my humble opinion, those skills can help identify the business and legal challenges that the client has appointed the law firm for and enable them to deliver the assigned matter with a higher professional level.