Key team members: Francis Paolo Tiopianco, Candice Faye Tan

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?     

We have continued to upskill on Generative AI (GAI) by attending international webinars conducted by leading legal experts. We expect this technology to create significant opportunities for Dentsu and our clients; however, since GAI is still very new, we need to be diligent and aware of the issues associated with this technology (particularly with respect to intellectual property and data protection). Equally important, we take what we learn and educate our own creative and business teams to ensure that everyone in the organisation understands the risks and how we manage these risks as a company.   

We also helped set up Dentsu Global Services (DGS) in the Philippines, an outsourcing hub that delivers business solutions across the Dentsu network worldwide. Having gone through the corporate spinoff route, we had to meticulously plan and navigate through various corporate and employment law matters, as well as cross-border considerations with off-shore clients.  

Finally, with the help of our external counsels, we have made substantial progress in reducing the number of operating companies in the Philippines as part of our legal entity rationalisation project. While this doesn’t sound as sexy as working on GAI, corporate housekeeping is an indispensable part of in-house work.   

Do you think the effects of AI on the legal world are overplayed or underplayed? 

If we’re talking about AI replacing human lawyers, that bit seems overplayed. AI is a powerful tool that can improve efficiency, particularly in traditionally time-consuming tasks such as legal research, document review, and due diligence. However, we’re still a long way from AI being able to replicate human judgment, creativity, and contextual understanding. AI is only as good as the datasets it is trained on and, speaking from a commercial law perspective, most creative deal structures remain confidential between the parties and are unlikely to find their way into an AI’s training data.   

Our measured take on AI in the legal profession is that it is a transformative tool that can complement lawyers’ skills, allowing us to focus on higher-level work requiring the exercise of judgment and discretion.   

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?    

We suggest starting with these 3 C’s:  

Collaboration – There’s a misconception that in-house lawyers are only relevant once contract negotiations start. However, this may oftentimes be too late as some pain points that should have been addressed earlier are only belatedly considered. At the early stages of any transaction, the legal team should work closely with the business teams to flag potential issues and conserve resources in pursuing activities that may not necessarily pan out.   

Communication – When consulted on any matter, the legal team’s role is not only to respond based on the law but also to explain to the business team the underlying reasons in a commercially comprehensible way. Business partners should not feel intimidated and burdened by unnecessary legalese when consulting their in-house lawyers.   

Change – Introducing new templates or new processes normally requires an adjustment period. Nevertheless, after initial growing pains, work will be more efficient for all stakeholders. Legal teams need to be receptive to change initiatives, whether coming from business partners or from within their own department.