Team size: 13

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

The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 has forced many in-house legal departments to introduce automated processes, despite long being resistant to change in this area. More extensive automation of certain legal activities, especially those around contracts, and a shift in hiring legal project managers employed within the legal function will change the landscape of in-house legal resources.

What is a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you care about, and why?

As an employee of an upstream oil and gas company that operates in the Caspian Sea, a nature-preserved area, I care much about the safety of offshore drilling operations conducted by oil and gas companies, including Dragon Oil. The Caspian region has long attracted the international community’s attention due to its rich hydrocarbon resources, a strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and the sea deposit, which is ‘home’ to sturgeon. Oil pollution potentially might affect the migration routes of sturgeon, and therefore companies operating in the Caspian Sea should always remain diligent about the safety of offshore operations.

I am also interested in remaining up to date on the ongoing discussions between five littoral states regarding the legal status of the Caspian Sea and the agreed way to divide the hydrocarbons. As an energy lawyer, I am interested in following the geopolitics and political dialogues between the littoral states, particularly when it comes to unresolved disputes arising from the Caspian sea’s inadequate legal status regulation in the past that have posed some obstacles to the exploitation of several offshore oil and gas blocks and delayed some projects, including the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline.

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

In their advisory role, successful general counsel in oil and gas companies are those who, in addition to technical solid legal and communications skills, have a very sharp grasp on the commercial issues underpinning the upstream oil and gas operations, as well as a good understanding and up to date awareness of global trends impacting the oil and gas industry.

A successful senior in-house lawyer in the oil and gas company is honest and vocal. They must be guardians of many things that oil, and gas companies do, ranging from shipping crude oil tankers to drilling the wells, to ensuring that the company’s personnel operate safely in the offshore areas, to negotiating cost recovery, profit oil split between the investor company and host government, and finally, to managing stakeholder relationships with JV partners under the joint operating agreements. Senior in-house lawyers must ensure that all those activities and operations are performed in a compliant and legally sound way.

An excellent internal lawyer must be an observer and an adviser in many matters that are not purely of a legal nature. It is a privileged position because what the senior in-house lawyers do in their day-to-day work touches most business operations. It involves commercial relationships with contractors, suppliers, JV partners, and host governments.

Finally, a successful senior in-house lawyer has created a rapport with the management board and established a fundamental element of trust. It is critical to have this trust and support from the CEO and senior management.