How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?   

I came into my current role at the time of the integration of Vifor Pharma into the wider CSL organisation, with loss of exclusivity of our largest product imminent and ongoing regulatory investigations.  These factors created instability for the function at a number of levels including in terms of organisational design, knowledge management, as well as skills development and optimisation.  Navigating this successfully requires an openness in the team to discuss challenges and to forge a common vision on the opportunities it presents. Amongst my team members the role of each and every individual was enhanced in terms of scope and complexity as a result of these changes and despite the challenges, we have been able to adapt without dropping our level of support to the business and our legal strategy continues to be reviewed for alignment with the overall business strategy on a regular basis.    

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?    

While we are not (yet) staffed with any full-time legal resources dedicated exclusively to ESG, the CSL legal function has designated two enterprise-wide co-leads for ESG, each with their own focus and embedded in the business teams. They will shape our legal strategy for advising on enterprise ESG matters around the globe, as the rapidly evolving landscape requires us to take a multi-jurisdictional view. Not surprisingly, there is a strong focus on the global supply chain, operational and local ESG matters and non-financial reporting. In addition to ongoing advisory and strategy work, ESG is an area where legal can really contribute to proactive horizon scanning, which is a real challenge in a fast-changing environment. In the current environment, adequate focus needs to be put in addition to maintaining reporting compliance as well as enhancing and quantifying our ESG efforts at a local level.   The co-leads work with a network of colleagues in legal who have expressed a specific interest in ESG. 

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?    

As a company CSL has a strong focus on DEI and our corporate programmes afford opportunities for learning and exchange at global and local level. Those efforts do not only focus on recruitment but importantly also on creating an inclusive workplace culture and retention. In the legal department we recently organised a panel discussion with some of our suppliers and law firms to better understand their DEI programmes and how we can contribute to ensuring diverse panels of talent are assigned to the tasks we place with law firms. In the end it is really a two-way street.