Career Biography

Evashni Govender is an experienced legal professional with extensive expertise in Corporate and Commercial Law, having held significant positions in various industries including FMCG, Pharmaceuticals and Agri-processing. With more than 20 years’ experience in an in-house legal environment, Evashni excels in her ability to develop & manage legal strategy as well as providing legal services to minimise commercial risk and ensure compliance to industry legislation and regulations. The adoption of innovative legal technology within the in-house team has earned the Tongaat Hulett Limited legal team Africa Legal Team of the Year (small team) in the African Legal Awards hosted by Law.com International.

Looking forward, what is your view of technological advancements to advance the role of in-house legal teams in the future? 

Over my career I have watched the role of the in-house lawyer evolve from a transactional support function into being a strategic business partner. With the introduction of a myriad of legal digital solutions and generative AI within the legal function, the in-house legal team of today is poised to evolve even further. While some view the introduction of AI with trepidation, it must be accepted that the role of the human lawyer in providing sound judgement, moral & ethical reasoning and qualified accountability can by no means ever be eliminated by AI. It is up to us as in-house lawyers to embrace artificial intelligence merged with these unassailable elements of human intelligence, to drive performance improvement to provide sound legal oversight and guidance to mitigate risk and facilitate strategic business decision-making.