Change in action  

Brooke Lindsay talks to the Oath on her journey to becoming the group chief legal and compliance officer of e&, empowering an agile and interdisciplinary legal and compliance team, and remaining focused on supporting the telco giant’s transformation into a technology group.

What led you to your role here? How does your past experiences working in both private practice and in-house roles contribute to your current role?

I started my legal career in Australia in private practice, then moved to the UAE to work for Herbert Smith Freehills before joining e& in-house.

Working in private practice is an excellent foundation for an in-house role, as it gives you the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects and exposure to a variety of clients and industries, as well as working on multiple matters at the same time. The diversity of this experience, the analytical skills and the rigorous practical training prepare lawyers well for an in-house role and make private practice a solid foundation for in-house lawyers. Your experience will help you make the best judgement in the most complex situations and give you the confidence to influence others to follow your lead.

What is the focus of your position and functions as the group chief legal and compliance officer at e&?

My role is multi-faceted. I oversee the legal and compliance functions at Group level, which means I am responsible for matters that affect our holding company, and I have various levels of oversight and responsibility for the legal and compliance functions within our portfolio of companies and businesses. I also have a number of roles on external boards representing e&.

As a member of the leadership team, it’s important to have foresight in decision making to ensure alignment with e&’s overall strategy. I wear many hats in supporting the organisation on its transformation journey to become a global technology group, and one of the key drivers is the speed of decision making. Key business decisions are often made in real time. If you don’t understand the strategy, none of your legal decision-making skills will be relevant. Agility is essential (and one of the Group’s core values) and we need to maintain our competitive edge in this fast-moving business world.

What are some of the important factors that in-house counsel have to consider when advising the senior leadership of their organisation?

This is where I see the key difference between the type of advice given by private practice and that given by in-house lawyers. For the legal and compliance team to be effective and add value to the business, it needs to approach advice with strategic thinking, sound judgement and often cross-functional collaboration. It also needs to be proactive, not reactive, which means we need to understand the business and the sector well so that we can identify legal and compliance issues before they become a problem.

I encourage my team to be transparent and open about the legal options and risks associated with any decision. We cannot avoid risks, they are inherent in doing business, but experience allows us to better anticipate them and build confidence in our business about the legal strategies to manage and mitigate them.

A good in-house lawyer must be able to strike the right balance between not being too involved in the decision and being sufficiently independent in the legal advice provided.

Tell us about your legal department at e&. What are some of the challenges you and your team face in conducting legal affairs for the company?

• For all internal cost centre functions, the eternal problem of budget constraints. However, I have to recognise that as an organisation there has been a significant shift in understanding the value of the legal and compliance team in protecting and preserving revenue and the need to properly manage, mitigate and anticipate risk and its (equal) importance to the business.
• All in-house legal functions need to develop a culture of innovation and overcome resistance to change. With the speed at which technology is advancing, we are constantly looking for ways to innovate, to be more efficient, to use technology and to digitise processes and document management. We’re always looking to do more by doing less, better and faster.
• Striking the right balance between risks and opportunities is an inevitable struggle. But a good working relationship and a reputation for pragmatic legal advice go a long way to facilitating these discussions and striking the right balance with your company’s stakeholders.
• Talent retention is another challenging area. (Commented on further below.)
• After all, time has become the most expensive currency. With excessive use of time, we find it increasingly difficult to engage in personal development and learning opportunities, which are incredibly important. I make this a key performance indicator in my team dashboard and plan at the beginning of the year which professional development opportunities each team member will pursue, so that they are prioritised at the beginning of the year, before workload and other competing priorities take over.

In your view, what do you consider to be the essential qualities to be a successful in-house legal department?

As a leader, change is the only constant in determining what is essential to the success of an in-house legal department. I enjoy challenging the status quo, rethinking and recalibrating what we do and how we do it. At the heart of a successful in-house legal team are the people who matter the most to me: I pay close attention to the values and culture of our team.

I attach great importance to preserving (recognising that it has taken time and commitment to get where we are) and building the culture of our team, and I devote a large part of the final interviews of our in-house lawyer candidates to discussing and exploring this with the candidates – I consider it as important as competence.

I want diversity (in the broadest sense), loyalty that goes hand in hand with creating a trusting working environment, team members who are passionate about what they do (and, of course, capable), who are willing to take on challenges and who want to grow and learn.

We don’t work on a command-and-control basis (which I grew up with in law), but much more on a relationship basis, with a relatively flat structure where everyone is empowered. My team doesn’t wait for the right moment to approach me or talk to me about their concerns: we have a culture of trust and transparency. I trust my team and let them lead.

e& has been in the news for all the right reasons lately with landmark acquisitions and tech investments. How have you and your team been enabling e&’s telco to techo transformation?

e& is successfully transforming itself into a global technology and investment group, and the Group’s legal and compliance team has contributed to many aspects of this transformation.

These include the legal IP aspects of the rebranding exercise and the creation of the new brand identity; the corporate and legal restructuring of the Group and re-alignment of the organisational governance to reflect that; the expansion of the scope of the function in providing support to the PE and VC business vertical; support on the M&A and commercial transactions that are enabling the transition of our business from telco to techco; the launch of a compliance program across the Group to introduce a consistent and structured set of elements such as policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing e&’s understanding of key compliance risks, and in turn reducing these risks through the promotion of and embedding of a culture of ethical business conduct.

Recent updates to our Code of Conduct have given us the opportunity not only to align the compliance programme with our transformation and purpose as a fast-moving organisation, but also to listen to and engage employees at all levels to create and nurture an internal culture based on our commitment to ethical business of which we can all be proud.

What qualities or skills do you look for in choosing external counsel? Do you face any challenges in hiring external counsel in this region?

Answered in 5.

Recruiting and retaining good counsel is a constant challenge, but it’s even harder when you’re competing solely on financial terms. When you walk the talk on culture and values, I think the proposition is better and the competition is not just financial.

What do you think is the future of in-house legal teams? Any thoughts on the influence of legal technology, the tech you’ve adopted and what, if any, you’ve rejected?

I’m fully aware of the benefits that technology can bring to the legal space – we’re always looking to do more by doing less, better and faster. The other benefit is improved collaboration and therefore better decision making – a lot of what we do internally is cross-functional and collaboration is at the heart of what we do.

You have held roles both in-house and in private practice. Is there any project you dealt with (not necessarily at the current workplace) which you felt was challenging and from which you took away a lot of learning?

I think it’s much more than any one project or case that I attribute my continued learning growth to. I’ve been fortunate to have had some amazing mentors (both in law and business) and the opportunity to work on projects relatively early in my career that private sector lawyers only get once in their careers. The key to all of this is to make the most of every opportunity to learn and develop. Regardless of your years of experience and seniority, this should be a constant. When the learning and growing stops, it’s time to move on to a new role.

On lessons learned – getting aligned with the business strategy is key. To do this, you need a deep knowledge of the business. In addition to this knowledge, you must not be afraid to make difficult decisions. This is only possible if you can separate potential from fact. You often have to let go of your personal biases and be able to advise the company in the most strategic and pragmatic way possible. We have all become increasingly interdisciplinary, bridging the gap between law and business.

What current projects are you enjoying the most?

My core legal practice began in M&A, corporate and governance, and I still enjoy working in these areas. More recently, my remit has expanded to include the management of all the Group’s IP and brands, commercial contracts, VC related M&A and compliance, and I enjoy the challenge of the evolving mandate.

We are doing a lot on compliance and driving the culture of compliance within the organisation. We have built a strong compliance team, by attracting the top talent from more matured and complex markets and organisations. We have revamped policies that are relevant to our business operations, and conducted regular roadshows across the organisation, which have allowed the team to meet with a diverse range of stakeholders and tailor our compliance training and awareness to best suit each business unit’s needs and risks. This has included hosting live training pieces on workplace behaviour and conduct for all senior leaders and people managers, an annual event to mark International Anti-Corruption Day with compliance industry speakers, our first ever Legal and Compliance forum with our community of legal and compliance colleagues, and even tailored training on gifts and hospitality during events such as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and occasions such as Ramadan.

Building on the momentum created by the successful re-introduction of the Code of Conduct, we launched a new e-learning module designed to enhance our employees’ understanding of the Code. Within 48 hours, it broke all records for engagement on our learning management system, including the highest number of comments, likes and shares. The team came up with some original ideas to promote the Code, including a ‘Where’s Waldo’ digital campaign, in which our Waleed character was hidden amongst illustrations of the Code and featured prominently on promotional materials, including posters, wallpaper and even reusable coffee mugs.

The revitalisation of the compliance programme and engagement with stakeholders across the Group has enabled the team to contribute to a number of holistic projects, including a key role in our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme, where we have developed a new Supplier Code of Ethical Conduct, which was introduced last month at our annual Partner Recognition Awards event to an audience of our key business partners and suppliers. The Supplier Code is an important step in ensuring that we all play our part in promoting sustainable business practices in the region and beyond, and will serve as an important tool for e& to engage and build closer relationships with our partners.

Through these efforts, our compliance team has played a key role in the maturity of our ESG objectives and the improvement of our rating from ‘BBB’ in 2021 to ‘A’ in 2022 by the globally recognised ESG rating agency Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI). We want to ensure that our business partners share our passion for tackling the challenges facing society and that they consistently apply the same ethical standards and values as e& to reduce the risk of unethical or illegal behaviour in our supply chain.

I love what we do at e&, which has a huge impact on the economies in which we operate, and with our vision of becoming a global technology group, I’m very excited about our future – everyone in the legal and compliance function has a lot to contribute to that vision.

Any important lessons that you’d like to share that aid your role at the company?

You must be adaptable. You need to be able to adapt to changes in business and strategy and recalibrate your department’s offering; and you need to be able to work with different clients across the organisation, with different styles and priorities.

We drive change. We ask team members to ‘challenge the status quo’. The way we do things has to change if necessary, and every member of my team is encouraged to question the approach and come up with better alternatives.

What’s your typical day like and how do you like to unwind after a day at work?

With three children and a full-time job, my day is usually pretty hectic from start to finish. I try to get time in for horse riding, before work rather than after, because I know I’ll always be able to.

What is your strategy for the e& legal department in the coming years?

We went the extra mile with the transformation of e& and the continued expansion of the Group’s legal and compliance function: I see our strategic planning as the glue that holds the team together, despite the multitude of growth the Group achieved. I spend time with every member of my team (at all levels), and I spend time with the businesses to understand what they are doing and what they need to do: I use all of this to refine our strategic plan from time to time to make sure it gets us where we need to go.