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In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

I see the in-house legal role evolving in a number of aspects. First and foremost, there is a slight shift in focus from “hard”, traditional compliance and more “soft” issues on sustainability and CSR. Our work with law and compliance need to have this perspective in mind both in carrying out own work but more importantly in the advisor role. Furthermore, there is a bigger ask from the commercial side that the in-house role is a business enabler, taking efficient solutions in use, staying on top of tools to streamline the advisor function and compliance work. The one perspective which is not evolving is the gatekeeper function; the core of the role has and will for the foreseeable future be to be a trusted advisor which is very close on the company’s pulse but at the same time comfortable and independent enough to slam the brakes when needed.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

A deep understanding of business and industry drivers and an overall strong knowledge of the legal and regulatory landscape we operate in. There are no “krill lawyers” or experts in our field, so as an industry leader we need to have all competency and expertise in-house. Thus, we are the ones who educate our advisors on how the business works.

Do you have any effective techniques for getting the most out of external counsel, in terms of how to instruct them?

We are a great client as we tend to partner with a few select external counsels long term. Once they have invested and gotten to know us as the main player within a niche business it is easier to keep developing the partnership. Since we are quite a unique business but still quite small, we cannot prioritise time and resources in training a wide selection of advisors, but instead make sure that the loyalty goes both ways in a partnership and that we get the best terms possible for staying with a select few. This includes scoping up all assignments which are expected to take more than a minimum amount of work. However, one technique we always use when we deal with new firms is to appoint one lead lawyer and really hold them responsible and accountable throughout the project. This is effective to streamline communication – 15 people in cc: and numerous senders depending on line of specialty is just frustrating. It is not rocket science but we see that this can slide out surprisingly often unless we are clear from the start on exactly what we expect.

Have any new laws, regulations or judicial decisions greatly impacted your company’s business or your legal practice?

We stay on top of the developments in, for example, labour law, IP law, antitrust law and the regulatory landscape in all the major jurisdictions we operate in, but have not been impacted greatly by any single event.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

We have started using digital tools for document sharing and signing, which work very well for a thinly spread, global company like ourselves. Furthermore, we have looked into AI solutions for document generating, but have not reached point where the tool works for us rather than the opposite way around. This is obviously just the beginning, and we will soon be in a position where a lot of basic work from both internal and external counsel can be handled much more efficiently through digital tools.

What can law firms do to improve their services to the legal department?

Law firms have to keep exploring and be in the forefront of the technological development. The firms which succeed in being early to offer efficient, customer-friendly services with different price models will disrupt the market, especially within for example IP which today is too much characterised by manual tasks.