Team size: 40

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

The Rio Tinto commercial legal team works in more than 10 different jurisdictions throughout four continents, still its challenges over the last year and a half were global. First, we have seen sanctions imposed at an unheard level, leading to immense pressure on the performance of contracts. Then, supply chain disruptions followed, creating more product and service shortages and a significant cost burden to all parties in the chain. Despite all this, though, it has been an eye-opening and deeply gratifying experience, that even though there was virtually no business as usual during these times, the proportion of adversarial situations has decreased sharply, and commercial parties worked together more closely than ever.

If you have worked in other countries, what are the main challenges unique to operating as an in-house counsel in my current location?

I have been very fortunate to serve in a significant number of countries, such as the US, Germany, Switzerland, Ghana, India, China, and now Singapore. Whilst the larger, more developed jurisdictions of these appear to focus on the definition of contractual rights and, if necessary, the formal resolution of disputes, other jurisdictions tend to see legal arguments more as enablers to support business needs. The uniqueness of Singapore is that it marries both approaches, in the sense that the country’s judicature and legislative systems provide an excellent basis to conclude strong and enforceable contracts, whereas at the same time the notion of a business development approach is part and parcel of the country’s diverse culture and virtually every negotiation. It is this combination that makes Singapore an ideal place, for younger lawyers, and those that are keen to learn, and to be exposed to a multitude of cultures.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

I believe that this coming decade is an opportunity for in-house teams, and individual lawyers, then it is a threat. We see disruption at nearly every angle of our work, may it be technology, the level of government intervention, or the advent of meaningful diversity in hiring and developing talent. For a rather conservative group such as lawyers, this is not easy to tackle. And to make things worse, university has not taught us the tools and recipes to deal with these powerful trends.

As I lead and develop teams, I tend to prioritise the talent and personality of individuals, to then select and form teams on that basis. The capabilities I assess as critical to master the mentioned new trends are many, but the most important ones, in my experience of leading high performing teams, are maturity, creativity, flexibility, and a strong will to perform.