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?  

Building on my business colleagues increased familiarity with, and preference for, virtual departmental meetings after the pandemic. I have actively encouraged as many of our business verticals as possible to routinely invite legal to attend their online meetings.  

Greater familiarity with legal has fostered a proactive – rather than a purely reactive – dynamic that has enabled issues to be identified and addressed by legal more quickly than was the case before. The closer interaction between legal and business has served as a catalyst for innovative and cooperative operational, legal and governance problem solving which ultimately benefits internal and external business development and client service.  

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

Having worked in arbitration and dispute resolution in London (Fulbright & Jaworski) and Dubai (Khasawnah & Associates, the predecessor firm to Eversheds Sutherland), I am familiar with the demands of domestic and international disputes and what to look for in external counsel operating across a wide range of disciplines, especially corporate and real estate.  

In Dubai I have come to know some of the best players in the market, developed my relationships and become confident working with local advocates and domestic and international legal consultancies.  

While M&A work is not a traditional part of my practice, our new parent company has a panel of proven M&A firms that I am able to rely on.  

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

The role of general counsel will become less consultative and more participatory in the development and execution of business strategy and risk management. Consequently, they will increasingly be the company’s principle means of communicating their company’s business needs to external counsel.  

General counsel will become interwoven in the fabric of the company in such a way that they will be there, not to deal with problems as they arise, but to provide assurance that the problems will be foreseen and forestalled – the concept of preventive law.  

I do not suggest that the general counsel will become a jack of all trades, but I firmly believe that they will have to become adept at embracing the multitude of emerging disciplines (sanctions, ESG, data protection) that are not directly related to traditional legal practice.