Could you tell us a bit about your significant successes in your role?

Time & Place did not have an in-house legal department prior to the arrival of the general counsel and myself. Assisting in the establishment of the internal legal department is a challenge but has been immensely satisfying. We had to start from the ground up in so many ways – there were no registers of executed documents, company secretary structures or compliance processes in place. Some of the successes have been: leading the set up and ongoing management of the in-house ASIC agent function and implementing a new company secretary software, Diligent Entities, to manage the 100 (and growing by the day) corporate entities; leading the legal strategy on 107 lot acquisitions in NSW using the complex strata renewal process; leading the internal legal strategy to secure a $60m acquisition facility; maintaining all legal registers and records including risk, company secretary, finance and corporate structures; introducing self-help legal agreement precedents and related processes (NDAs, Consultancy Agreements) to the team which boosted efficiency and interaction with the legal department from the wider commercial team. We have also worked on ongoing legal education of the wider team by email summaries and updates and seminars; promoting efficiency within the business by introducing DocuSign, which enabled a seamless transition to remote working during the mandatory Covid-19 lockdowns.

In your opinion, what are the qualities and skills needed to form a strong legal team?

Trust and owning your mistakes are essential to a strong legal team. I am lucky to have worked with the general counsel for over five years and I trust them without question to support my ongoing development on a personal and professional level. Owning my mistakes is so important for the team to function, as it would be if someone else in the team made a mistake. We are not perfect, and mistakes will be made on occasion – owning up to them means the team can work on a solution together.

What is the biggest risk to your industry or organisation and how are you contributing to prepare your organisation for this?

Disputes and pressure arising from construction agreements and external financing compliance issues. Preparing and issuing summaries to the wider team, as well as monitoring Time & Place’s obligations under construction agreements and financial covenants under finance agreements, mitigates the risk of breach and dispute.

What challenges have you overcome to get to the position you are in today?

When I finished my law degree, I did not want to work as a lawyer. University experience had been beneficial, but I was emotionally wayward and could not see myself doing what firm lawyers did. I received a message on LinkedIn around that time from a property developer who needed a temporary legal assistant to assist a general counsel for three weeks. I loved it – property development is tangible and requires adaptability to all areas of law. That three-week temporary job ended up being a year, and now it’s been five years (and counting) working alongside that general counsel. Being exposed to a different type of practising law – in-house – taught me there is more than one way to do something.