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

Special projects that require urgent attention need to be reconciled with the day-to-day business of the legal function. For this balance to work, the general counsel needs to build a strong team of individuals who can take over and absorb the day-to-day duties of the general counsel if the general counsel is drawn into unforeseen matters which need her urgent attention. It is, therefore, key to train my team in all of the relevant legal issues I face daily. However, it is even more important to spend time with the individual members of the team explaining the issues at play, as well as my approach to problem-solving. 

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years?   

While there are many developments which will impact the work of the general counsel, there are two which I believe will play a particularly important role:  

The growing complexity of legal and regulatory matters will emphasise the role of the general counsel as a generalist lawyer and legal risk manager. A growing body of legal and regulatory rules continuously makes legal problem-solving and advisory more complex. This leads to more specialisation of legal professionals who dedicate their entire legal practice and advisory work to a particular field of law. This increasing specialisation, which can be found in private practice as well as in large departments, leads to a fragmentation of knowledge within the team, which needs to be countered by a strong generalist general counsel who can put specialist legal advice in perspective and view it in the context of other competing legal, ethical and business interests, in other words: a general counsel needs to be able to puzzle together and see the big picture. Using their knowledge of the company and employing their general legal tool set, the general counsel becomes a critical filter for specialist legal advice, making her a key advisor to senior management.  

Technology will undoubtedly be a significant driver for change within the legal function and profoundly alter how we work as in-house lawyers. As a general counsel, it will be necessary to closely follow and keep abreast of the development of the various technologies and practical tools that can support or facilitate the work of the legal function. However, it will be equally crucial for the general counsel to remain critical about whether the proposed technological improvements meet the necessary standards. The premature introduction of new technologies that are still flawed or not fully understood by the legal team can pose a significant risk that the general counsel will manage.