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 have produced a group legal charter embodying a mission statement and this is to be issued and cascaded through the entire business both formally and then via the internal internet portal. It contains a brief directory of all lawyers and sets out the objectives and values of the group legal team and aligns them with the group’s Code of Ethics and Conduct. It also sets out the protocol for instructing and working with group legal to optimise and maximise value for all stakeholders. 

How do you balance your responsibilities as a GC with your involvement in dispute resolution and M&A matters?   

I diarise and schedule all regular team and individual lawyer meetings, and these are sacrosanct as well as the interactions with the CEO and other key stakeholders from the business. Everything then stems from and fits around that and dispute resolution I invariably outsource or delegate internally unless it is a sensitive matter – although I maintain interest in and oversight of everything. M&A projects are shared between three of us according to expertise and capacity, but we pool thoughts and share information regularly. I set aside one-half day a week to general management matters to optimise and improve the legal services operating model that we have  

Can you discuss a particularly challenging dispute or M&A scenario you encountered and the innovative strategies you implemented to address it? 

A current transaction involving multiple international parties across multiple time zones with highly polarised legal and political interests and sensitivities and various counsel acting under Chinese Walls and with conflicting interests. We agreed a regular pattern and schedule of calls (convenient or inconvenient timings dependent on location) but which was balanced, and we set up an internal and secured shared drive and an encrypted WhatsApp group to expedite matters and ease communication. Due to professional conflicts, there were also subgroups. There were Project lunches and other break out and off-site sessions in different territories to optimise project traction. AI technology (Robin AI) was also adopted to address some of the smaller routine documents including NDAs and other minor documents – this was very efficient indeed and we engaged a team of trainees (outsourced) to manage and implement this as well as to produce daily document progress schedules and the project timetable.