In-house legal teams provided critical support to businesses at a challenging time
The COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage going into 2022 has given in-house lawyers the opportunity to showcase their importance to businesses.
“In-house lawyers stepping up to assist their organisations respond to COVID-19 demonstrates the true value of the in-house function,” Holding Redlich partner Elizabeth Carroll said. “The key role of in-house lawyers as problem-solvers was on display, and the support they offered to clients at their most challenging hour was incredible.”
The valuable support in-house legal teams provided to their organisations over the past couple of years was celebrated at the 2021 Australasian Law Awards, of which Carroll was a judge. She pointed out that many teams were able to guide their companies in adapting to what she described as “enormously difficult circumstances”
“First and foremost, in-house lawyers should be commercially minded and consider how the advice they provide to stakeholders can support the business’s strategic objectives,” she explained.
Nova Entertainment group GC and company secretary Ben Willis, Carroll’s fellow judge, echoed her words as he pointed to what constitutes best practice for in-house legal teams.
“In-house best practice is predicated upon a clear understanding of the business’s strategic ambitions and effective relationships with functional stakeholders. I encourage my team to integrate cross-functionally and form strong relationships with colleagues, with a view to better understanding the nature, scope and ambition of the workstreams they are advising on,” Willis said.
The pandemic, he explained, had “amplified [the] juggle” of the everyday “myriad, disparate challenges” in the in-house space.
“The unprecedented combination of novel workplace challenges, commercial frustration and volatile market conditions has required a shift in commercial strategy and governance, and an associated modification in how in-house lawyers support new-world business practices,” Willis said.
