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?  

When I joined the Gargash Group, I had to build a legal team from scratch, so the ‘innovation’ we had to implement was a very different way of working.  

This meant making a concerted effort to show the commercial teams that the new legal function would assist their businesses and drive top and bottom lines by negotiating better terms; using more effective contracts and standardised agreements; assisting with effective risk management, compliance procedures and protocols; implementing simplified processes for dealing with disputes – both before and after they become litigious; and giving strategic business advice based on two decades of advising international companies as a private practice lawyer. 

All this was done through effective regular face-to-face communications, teamwork, fast turnaround times, high quality documents and, above all, being practical and approachable. Whilst many general counsel would not consider these things to be ‘innovations, the ‘quiet revolution’ that has taken place within the group was a real innovation for its businesses. 

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

It is easy for general counsel to become overly focused on larger, ‘more exciting’ dispute resolution and M&A projects at the expense of their day-to-day responsibilities. There is no magic solution to this issue and balance can only be achieved by adherence to the basics of the general counsel role. The essential elements of this role include using the trust you have built in your team by giving them the agency to increase practice self-management for those that can do this. This team empowerment must be tempered with regular contact and the regular use of ‘two-minute updates’. Team members must still know that you are available for questions, document review and mentoring at any time. 

Identifying the matters that must have priority, given the limited time available when large projects are ongoing is another element. This means being able to make tough decisions about what matters must be de-prioritised and which must be given the most focus with the limited time available. A core part of the role is building a team that is experienced enough to be able to cope on a day-to-day basis when the GC may not be available but that is not too unwieldy to be managed effectively.  

Finally, the most important aspect is not to lose sight of your role as general counsel. While dispute and M&A projects are important to the business, the day-to-day activities are just as important, and, sometimes, more important. Self-discipline to prevent yourself from being too ‘sucked in’ where it is not necessary will ensure that the legal function does not suffer from the effects of a larger project. 

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

The key development in the way general counsel work over the next five years will be the requirement to bring together fast moving or developing areas in a seamless approach to advising, working, and adding value to the business.  

The areas themselves are each individually vitally important, have a significant impact, and are well known (diversity equity and inclusion, technology (AI) integration, ethics and corporate responsibility, ever increasing regulatory complexity, data privacy and cybersecurity, among others), but I believe that the key development for any general counsel in the way they work will be the need to bring all these elements together seamlessly. 

Overly focusing on one at the expense of another (for example, A.I. versus corporate responsibility) could be disastrous for the organisation. The real development for general counsel will be the improvement of working systems that mesh all these elements together with the way their organisation works.