Team size: Nine lawyers, one executive assistant  

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?  

Shortly after assuming my role as chief legal officer, I recognised a need for the team to move away from paper-based, manual processes that were prevalent within the legal department and throughout the wider organisation. I initiated a project to identify how these manual processes could be automated and digitised to increase efficiency and improve document management and retention processes.  

For a relatively low cost, I oversaw the implementation of a contract generation and digital signature software package that automates the creation, amendment, and execution of the QFCA’s standard commercial contracts and other documents, leading to significantly increased efficiencies and cost savings for the QFCA through quicker, more streamlined procurement and human capital processes and the use of standardised documentation.  

This innovative step helped to free up a significant amount of time within my team, thereby allowing them to focus on more complex matters and helped the QFCA to move closer to its goal of operating within an automated and paperless environment. 

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

One of the key requirements of my role as chief legal officer is to balance my day-to-day responsibilities including my additional deputy CEO role, company secretarial activities, and executive committee membership with the need to make rapid, accurate and strategic, high-value decisions on a wide variety of matters including sensitive litigation and complex corporate and commercial matters.  

The QFCA’s legal team structure is deliberately “flat”, and I operate an open-door policy where any one of my team members working on litigation or M&A matters can meet with me at short notice so that issues can be discussed, and decisions can be made quickly. I also set aside regular times to meet with individual members of my team to discuss current matters and to collaborate on ensuring that the QFCA’s legal risks in disputes or commercial agreements are effectively managed. In addition, through regular weekly meetings with the sub-teams that I manage, we are able to systematically discuss matters they are working on and to make decisions to resolve any outstanding issues. 

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

Over the next five years, I foresee a steady increase in the use of technology including digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence, “RegTech” by general counsel to allow them to do more with less. With ever increasing budget pressures, legal teams will be required to harness technology to, for example, automate documents, enhance compliance processes, and conduct legal research.  

I also foresee an evolution within legal teams through greater use of outsourced specialist service providers including remote independent paralegals, company secretaries, draftsmen and lawyers, dedicated risk and compliance analysts and bespoke technology service providers. 

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?  

I see an emergence of in-house legal technology specialists that are able to understand legal processes and translate them into automated, online solutions that address multiple inefficiencies and micro challenges within an organisation. This includes lawyers working closely with coders, web designers and software specialists to create and adapt individual, organisation-specific tools that can be deployed rapidly and maintained and enhanced cost effectively to continuously improve legal systems and processes.