In conversation with: Terra Potter, general counsel

Team size: Six in the region

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

The world is still rather topsy-turvy. The aerospace and industrial sector continues to bounce back at a fantastic pace and so a great deal of what the team has been focused on is supporting that ramp up and the finagling that goes into it – from firefighting, to negotiating, to implementing long-term strategies with our key legal advisors to put frameworks in place to efficiently manage risks.

The unusual business environment created by the pandemic has been swiftly followed by the Ukraine crisis, and attendant supply chain costs rising and increasing inflation. Are you now putting more emphasis on preparing for the unforeseen and, if so, what does this entail?

I’m calling this “Lawyering for the Apocalypse” going forward, because that’s what it feels like legal teams everywhere are trying to do. Given that the future outlook seems to suggest that these types of unforeseen and previously incredibly rare events are going to be increasing, it would be sheer folly to fail to put greater emphasis on the unforeseen. So how to conquer the unforeseen? Firstly, map where you are, examine how crises have been handled over the past two and a half years and allow your “lessons learned” to shape your policies, risk management and working practices going forward. Secondly, culture is critical and business partnerships (internally and externally) are key in making it through unforeseen events, so make sure that you’re constantly building on those. Finally, we have amazing external legal advisors that can support with horizon scanning, issue wrangling and trusted, practical advice.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

Beyond picking external lawyers that align with the company’s values–which is a critical element–it’s more important that the external lawyers’ values and ways of working align with the legal team’s purpose, way of working, and values. Further, if you genuinely believe and practice a set of values, then you should want to support service providers and external lawyers that have those values too. I usually consider if the law firm is committed to health working practices for their team, genuinely championing diversity as well as actively searching for ways to move the needle and if they are transparently reporting ESG statistics among others. Every team and general counsel will have their own set of questions based on their team’s and company’s values – but you should be able to answer them readily about your advisors. If not, I’d start looking elsewhere as neither party would be deriving full value from that relationship.