Team size: Five direct reports, 60+ indirect reports

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?

Based in Dubai, I work for Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company headquartered in Denmark. We provide treatment for diabetes, obesity, and other serious chronic diseases. Our company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and we provided our first treatment for diabetes. However, since obesity is a newer treatment area compared to diabetes, the legal challenges are also different from diabetes when it comes to innovative legal transactions, new agreements, and exploring new opportunities.

To help colleagues generate innovative ideas related to obesity, we established a “Speed Dial Team.” This team specialises in addressing legal and compliance inquiries related to obesity, fosters cross-functional collaboration with medical and business units, and acts as the first line responders to queries. This initiative helped us to collect a wealth of information from various functions and promoted the development of in-house legal experts within our team, instead of the need to hire full-time employees for this purpose.

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

I firmly believe that the role of the GC is to provide guidance to our business colleagues in such a way that enables them optimise opportunities while making informed decisions about calculated risks. In this context, it is important to identify the most efficient strategies for preventing litigation.

With respect to M&A, the GC role is crucial, not only to leading the process but to the aftermath of the M&A. Starting with the having the right individuals for negotiations, securing regulatory approvals, and ensuring a smooth integration process will also require significant involvement from the general counsel.

While both dispute resolution and M&A are significant tasks with the GC’s remit, I think we GCs we can play a greater role in dispute resolution, as M&A projects are often commenced by our commercial teams.

This is why I advocate for a strategic approach aimed at minimising challenges in dispute resolution. Such a strategy can help balance the responsibilities between dispute resolution and M&A endeavours.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?

I take diversity and inclusion very seriously, dedicating considerable time to reading, understanding, engaging in discussions, and challenging my own perspectives in this area.

Within our team, we have a dedicated dashboard on which we measure several diversity metrics and conduct an annual unanimous pulse survey to gauge the inclusivity climate. As a team, we actively take time to get to know each other better through off-site meetings, insights tests, and other initiatives aimed at understanding not only the professional side of our colleagues who show up at the office and send emails but also their personalities, preferences, fears, passions, and interests.

Despite these efforts, we recognise that there are subjective dimensions to diversity and inclusion that require more attention and effort on our part.