ACC Australia Women in the House

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ACC AUSTRALIA

WOMEN

IN THE HOUSE

By in-house for in-house

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ACT I VAT E CO N N E C T I O N S

The essentials of your professional membership.

ACC Australia is part of the global ACC network consisting of more than 45,000 in-house counsel, employed by 10,000 organisations in over 90 countries. Professional membership with ACC Australia provides the best of both worlds; local support and events, combined with the resources and connections of a global in-house community.

E D U C AT I O N

Professional membership with ACC Australia provides you with access to 150+ free CPD events, 300+ free and on-demand webinars, professional development and soft skill workshops, annual state Corporate Counsel days, the ACC Australia National Conference, the ACC In-house Certification Program and an annual calendar of global conferences including the ACC Asia-Pacific Annual Meeting.

RESOURCES

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Be in the know with the latest in-house news through a range of member exclusive resources including annual ACC research reports, ACC Australia Whitepapers and publications including the Australian Corporate Lawyer Magazine and the ACC Docket.

ACC Australia members also receive a personalised email subscription to Lexology legal news updates.

Being a member of ACC has provided me with incredible networking opportunities. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and learn from in-house counsel from CAREER Australia and around the globe, Let your career reach new heights by applying for the D E V E LO P M E N T share ideas and create solutions 12-month ACC Australia mentoring program, attending the Career Development Series or receiving ethical for issues that are shared across the guidance through the ACC peer support program. industry. As the voice for in-house counsel, ACC Australia provides members with excellent resources, exceptional conferences and CPD events with the most relevant and practical content. My A D V O C AC Y Join the voice of the in-house profession. membership is an investment in my career.

On behalf of members, ACC Australia advocates on issues directly impacting Theo Kapodistrias, Lawyer at University of Tasmania the in-house profession in Australia.

Be a driver of change in a tumultuous time.

T 1300 558 550 ausmembership@acc.com

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PI INSURANCE

Professional membership with ACC Australia includes professional indemnity insurance that covers you for the services provided within your role as an in-house lawyer.

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CONTENTS MEMBER PROFILES

04 05 06

LIN SHI - HKEX

06

ELIZABETH CARROLL - IP AUSTRALIA

08

JESSICA GIAMPICCOLO - SOUTHERN STATES GROUP

10

ELIZABETH BRIGGS - PAYPAL AUSTRALIA

12

SESHANI BALA - CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

14

VERIT Y WHITE - TELSTRA

16

KAVITHA GUPTA - JUNIPER NETWORKS

18

RUBY ANANDA JAYASEKERAM - SHELL AUSTRALIA

20

GEORGETTE APOSTOLOPOULOS - DELIVEROO AUSTRALIA

22

KELLIE MORTON - ILLION

24

WOMEN IN THE HOUSE ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF CORPORATE COUNSEL (ACC)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Australia would like to sincerely acknowledge and thank the people who made this publication possible.

To our inspiring and valued members who shared their personal journeys from student to in-house lawyer, we thank you for your time and for your insights into the legal profession.

Publisher Published by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).

Design Alias Blake Design The copyright in the ACC Australia In-House Lawyers Graduate Profile Handbook is owned by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). All rights are expressly reserved.

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WOMEN IN THE HOUSE

This publication celebrates the extraordinary careers of women in-house by showcasing ten women’s career journeys and lessons learnt along the way. The in-house legal sector is dynamic and evolving and this publication highlights the key experiences and learnings of some of our most inspirational female in-house leaders to inspire and encourage up-and-coming female lawyers.

Women are achieving great things in in-house, breaking down barriers and creating pathways for future growth. The sector is leading the way on gender equality, particularly in leadership roles, in comparison to the broader legal profession. Females are on the pathway to achieving gender parity in the in-house profession, leaving their law firm colleagues significantly in the background.

Achieving gender parity signifies an opportunity to improve business outcomes and provides access to a broader pool of talent.

Private sector female lawyers are increasingly making the move to in-house with close to 40% of women who were intending to leave their private practice role in 2013, indicating they were looking to move in-house compared to around 25% of men.1 The in-house sector has created opportunities for women to flourish, supporting their personal and professional goals, offering growth and development. Additionally, in-house teams are increasingly being led by females and those legal teams are becoming influential across the broader legal landscape.

1.

Law Council of Australia, 2013 National Report on Attrition and Re-engagement

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A B O U T T H E A S S O C I AT I O N O F CO R P O R AT E CO U N S E L ( ACC ) The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is a global bar association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel through information, education, networking opportunities, and advocacy initiatives. With more than 45,000 members, across 84 countries, ACC connects in-house counsel to peers and resources across the globe, empowering its members to access market-leading information anywhere in the world.

ACC Australia is proudly by in-house counsel for in-house counsel, representing the interests of inhouse counsel in Australia working in corporations, governments and not-for-profit organisations.

Professional membership with ACC Australia offers a range of benefits across the four pillars of education, resources, research and connection to the broader in-house counsel community.

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LIN SHI H E A D O F I P O V E T T I N G D E PA R T M E N T HKEX

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I was born in Shanghai and we moved to the US when I was six. My parents didn’t really speak English, so we spoke Shanghainese at home and on the weekends, I went to Chinese school to learn to speak Mandarin to read and write Chinese. Because my friends were also immigrants who spoke another language at home, I thought it was just normal to have to master three languages.

My dad went to the US to get his Master’s in mechanical engineering.

My maternal grandfather was a civil engineer and my mother really wanted to be an electrical engineer. Her education was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution in China, so she didn’t have the opportunity to pursue her dream. It was her fondest wish that I become an electrical engineer.

I grew up in a Chinese immigrant community in Los Angeles and was surrounded by professionals —mainly doctors and accountants—and small business owners. My parents were dissatisfied with the public school education system, but couldn’t afford to send me to private school so they tutored me in math and science after school. I was multiplying fractions when my classmates were learning triple digit subtraction.

When I was in high school, the Human Genome Project had just launched and discovering the secrets of our genes captured my imagination. I entered college as a biology major with the goal of pursuing genetics but by the end of sophomore year, I didn’t think I could endure any more labs and switched majors to study international relations because I really enjoyed my economics and political science classes.

But there was no blueprint to follow for me. No one in my family had even heard of international relations and asked me what kind of job that would qualify me for. Since I had no idea either, I decided to defer ‘real life’ and a graduate degree in law seemed interesting. I didn’t watch legal dramas and the only lawyers I knew were immigration lawyers and insurance lawyers. I had absolutely no exposure to high finance and my parents didn’t know anything about the stock market. All in all I had no idea what I wanted to do with my career, but I vaguely remembered that whatever people did in the movie Wall Street (the original one that came out in 1987!) seemed exciting.* Turns out lawyers were involved in the high stakes for wealth and power so I got the idea that I should go to the East Coast and work as a corporate lawyer in New York, which is exactly what I ended up doing.

My first year in law school was less than auspicious. In the US, the professors use the Socratic method, which I think is designed to humiliate and torture students. I could barely keep up with the reading and even then, couldn’t deduce what I was supposed to learn from the cases. My confidence was sorely shaken, and I thought law school was a big mistake. Due to my mediocre first year grades, I wound up interning at a small firm, not the Wall Street firms that I heard about in the movies. I turned my grades around in the next couple of years and eventually ended up at a top UK law firm with which I transferred from New York to Hong Kong.

They say if you make it in (New York), you can make it anywhere, but my hours in Hong Kong were much longer due to the increased travel and having to do calls with European and American clients. I didn’t think that private practice (at least in US capital markets in Asia) was sustainable for me so I took a sabbatical. It was a highlight in my career, and I recommend it for anyone who is lucky enough to get one. I mostly

“

Dear younger Lin: “It is discipline, hard work and learning to ask for help that will get you through any set back or challenge. You have those skills already, just need to take a deep breath and get to work.

You will thrive!”

travelled and planned my wedding during my six months off and paid scant attention to finding a new job. As serendipity would have it, before my sabbatical ended, I got a call from a recruiter about an inhouse position at an investment bank and got the job.

I spent five and a half years in-house and I really enjoyed it. We had a small team that covered the Asia ex-Japan region and worked closely to share knowledge. My manager was great. He taught me a lot about how corporations work and gave me an insight into how managers think.

He was quite hands-off and made it clear that he hired me because he trusted my judgement. He was available to provide guidance but wanted me to figure things out and let me do things in the way I felt most comfortable and efficient.

What I liked about being in-house was that I had internal clients and didn’t have to worry about meeting revenue targets. The internal clients were for the most part, very respectful and treated me like I was part of the team. Because we were physically separate from the bankers, my internal clients didn’t care if I worked remotely so long as I responded in a timely fashion. This gave me a lot of flexibility and the lack of required face-time was definitely one of the advantages of the job.

The investment banking in-house counsel also got to know each other well after working on deals together. We formed a small group to regularly discuss common issues and set best practices. This community later became the Financial Services Industry Group of ACC Hong Kong.

If there’s one thing I would change is greater investment in technology.

I always lamented that there wasn’t a document management system where we could easily search our precedents. So much institutional knowledge was lost when someone left the firm. When we were asked whether the firm had agreed to any particular contract clause, it was always difficult to answer with certainty since we couldn’t do a comprehensive search. Firms had invested in technology elsewhere, but efficient record-keeping was usually not a high priority.

I don’t know if age always brings wisdom, but it certainly brings perspective. When you’re young, you don’t have much experience and you can’t put events in context. Every bump in the road is a crisis. So, what I would tell my younger self is to believe in myself more. Sometime during my adolescence, I became very disciplined. Dear younger Lin: “It is discipline, hard work and learning to ask for help that will get you through any set back or challenge. You have those skills already, just need to take a deep breath and get to work. You will thrive!”

* I’ve since learned that Oliver Stone wanted Wall Street to expose the corruption and greed and turn people off an industry full of crooks, but his film was so glamorous that it backfired. I, like so many other Gen Xers, were all seduced by it. Oops.

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ELIZABETH CARROLL CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL IP AUSTRALIA

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“ As the Chief Legal Counsel at IP Australia, I enjoy supporting innovation in the Australian community. I have led the legal teams of three Commonwealth agencies over the last ten years. Prior to moving in-house, I worked in private practice for a decade. I am passionate about the value of profession associations, contributing to the broader profession through my role as Vice President of the ACT Law Society. Currently I am the Chair of the ACT Law Society’s Government Law Committee and a member of the Australian Research Council’s Competitive Grants Review Committee. In 2016, I received the ACT Law Society’s Government Law Awards and I am a finalist in the Government Lawyer of the Year category of the Lawyers Weekly Corporate Counsel Awards 2020. In my spare time I love yoga, recently qualifying as a Level 1 Registered Yoga teacher.

By the end of high school, I had settled on a career choice as a lawyer, motived by a desire to help people and based on the encouragement of a teacher. I was inspired by the outstanding example of Dame Roma Mitchell, Australia’s first female Supreme Court judge, as well as less worthy legal television shows. Prior to this I considered various careers including ecologist, architect, heritage advisor and engineer. Interestingly, law has led me to work with all these professions!

I began my legal career in the Sydney office of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, specialising in planning and environmental law, until I moved to the Canberra office of Corrs as a Senior Associate. Looking back, I realise that I have been working my way up the tiers of government. I started out acting in local government planning disputes, then advised on State environmental and planning issues, and for the last fifteen years have advised the Commonwealth.

While working in private practice, I undertook three secondments to government agencies. I loved the ability to immerse myself in understanding my client’s business needs and work on projects for a public purpose. When the opportunity arose to set up the legal team at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, it was too good to pass up.

I have been incredibly lucky to have wonderful mentors throughout my career. I am extremely grateful for the fantastic training I received as a junior lawyer. I always advise newly admitted lawyers to work where they will get excellent training as this is the foundation of the rest of their career. More recently, I have found the insights of senior leaders in the organisations I have worked for to be invaluable.

Although the benefits of mentoring cannot be underestimated, ultimately, I am guided by my own values and interests. My fundamental values of service and community are touchstones for my decision-making, big and small. My interest in science and creativity has also strongly influenced my career path. These factors have led me to work in client service roles for science-based agencies working for the public good.

I always advise newly admitted lawyers to work where they will get excellent training as this is the foundation of the rest of their career.“

Leading the legal teams at IP Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority has given me the privilege of working alongside so many talented scientists and engineers. My earlier experience in planning and environmental law also involved working with experts in STEM disciplines. This has very much been a case of following my interests.

Although I am best suited to a supporting role in the area, I find working with scientists, new ideas and creating solutions fascinating.

My values of service and community guided my decision to work as a government lawyer and my involvement in professional associations. Recently I have been able to take this to another level, developing a Pro Bono Legal Work Policy for IP Australia. As a member of the Australian Pro Bono Centre’s In-house Counsel Pro Bono Steering Committee, I am delighted to have supported the opening of National Pro Bono Target to government and in-house lawyers on 1 July 2020. IP Australia is a Foundational In-house Legal Signatory for the Target. In-house lawyers have so much to offer in this space and I encourage other teams to get on board.

As a lawyer, I have always obtained satisfaction from providing quality advice and service to my clients. In government legal practice, I enjoy the additional motivation which comes from working as part of a wider purpose to benefit the Australian community. In my current role, supporting innovation is exciting and requires me to explore new ideas. It is rewarding to lead a team working on cutting-edge projects, like TM-Link, an internationally linked trademark database.

IP Australia not only supports innovation in the community but encourages us to be creative in our work. I love the opportunity this gives to explore new ways to support our clients and thrive in an engaging and exciting work culture. Having a fantastic team assists greatly with getting out of bed in the morning!

Wherever I have identified a potential drawback of in-house work, I have taken action to address it. Starting out in a small in-house team initially felt isolating, so I became active in professional associations.

I yearned for a mentor, so I established the Australian Government Legal Network’s Legal Circles Mentoring Program. I went on to become the Chair of that organisation for three years, working to provide greater professional development opportunities and I have found the ACC to be a fantastic source of support. Every challenge has provided a wonderful opportunity for growth.

If I could give one piece of advice to my younger self, it would be “follow your heart and forge your own career.” There are many unhappy people out there trying to live up to the expectations of others. It is amazing how doors open when you pursue what you believe in. On a more practical note, as a mother of two primary school-aged children, I encourage anyone who is juggling work and family to get all the help they can. They are not joking when they say, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

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JESSICA GIAMPICCOLO GROUP LEGAL COUNSEL S O U T H E R N S TAT E S G R O U P

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I am a Group Legal Counsel with over 15 years’ experience in the legal industry. I began my legal career working as a legal assistant while I was studying at university. After I finished my law degree, I began working in private practice, before transitioning to in-house around six years ago, and I’ve never looked back! Outside of work I am a self-confessed hippy who enjoys spending time learning lots of new things and spending time with my gorgeous family.

When I was at school, I wanted to be a hairdresser or an air hostess.

I think I was attracted to all the glamour that I associated with both of those roles. The skills and finesse of a hairdresser and the pristine makeup and customer service delivered by an air hostess were all appealing to me. In my later years of high school, I considered the elements of my own personal skillset and found that the law was where I should focus my attention.

Legal studies was not offered at my school in my final year of studies.

However, due to my marks as a year 11 student, I was strongly encouraged to continue via an adult education class held weekly in the city. Each week I would make my way into the city as a young woman to study legal studies as a year 12 subject in a class full of adults. I am very grateful I was provided with such an opportunity as it provided the foundation for my career in the legal profession. The law was what sparked my creativity and was the area that I understood the most. I was able to do my most creative thinking whilst considering the law.

My career journey began with a Bachelor’s degree focusing largely on criminology. I was always fascinated by crime and criminology.

However, when I finished my degree, I realised that this career path probably wasn’t for me and instead decided to study law with the goal of working in-house for a company. I felt this would enable me to merge my legal brain with some corporate thinking and hopefully open the door to a role suitable for me.

I have always loved the idea of being part of the heart and soul of a company and learning from all disciplines what it takes to operate a successful company. My in-house career delivered just that. I have been able to work closely with highly skilled individuals from disciplines so different to my own, which has been extremely exciting. To this day I am fortunate to be able to learn from very talented individuals with skills ranging from business operations to sales and marketing.

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I have always loved the idea of being part of the heart and soul of a company and learning from all disciplines what it takes to operate a successful company. My in-house career delivered just that.”

I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by many influential people.

My parents, husband, sister and my grandparents have all played a large role in supporting me and guiding me along my career journey. My father has taught me the importance of hard work, determination and how to be successful in business. My father ingrained in me that with hard work anything is possible. My Pa together with a good friend of ours, Bob, also instilled the importance of reading and expanding your knowledge base wherever possible. I now understand that reading is absolutely essential for career growth.

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It never gets old being out and spotting projects I have been involved in and knowing that my colleagues have achieved their goal. I feel very fortunate to be an in-house lawyer and part of such a wonderful network of people.”

In my later years, my husband showed me the importance of always conducting yourself ethically in business and the importance of teamwork in allowing us both to flourish in our careers. My mother, gran and sister have also shaped my way of thinking and encouraged me immensely along my journey. The support of my family has enabled me to progress to where I am today.

There are many things I love about working in-house. I love the constant variety of work that passes through my office, working with the senior executive team and board for the common goal towards the betterment of the company. I love being able to see ideas through from conception to completion. Being able to not only protect a company via a risk management framework and good corporate governance, but also to see the company flourish is extremely rewarding. Being involved in new projects is exciting and reading contracts is far more enjoyable when you have a sense of connection. I take great pride in reading a contract, seeing such a talented group of people work on the project and then seeing the product out in the public. It never gets old being out and spotting projects I have been involved in and knowing that my colleagues have achieved their goal. I feel very fortunate to be an in-house lawyer and part of such a wonderful network of people.

I think that there should be more emphasis on the importance of in-house counsel in large companies. Before starting my first degree, I was unaware that in-house positions even existed and thought to be a lawyer meant working in a private practice. I was never aware of where the many different areas of a law degree could actually take you.

Whilst in my role I have never faced any issue surrounding inclusion, the lack of involvement from corporate counsel in the early stage of a project is often highlighted within the in-house community. Lawyers can give so much more to companies when given the opportunity. When companies learn to embrace the importance of a lawyer as a trusted adviser, they will most certainly reap the rewards.

If I could go back in time to my younger self, I would give myself more reassurance and tell myself that confidence would be a natural progression.

Sometimes it just takes a little time to find your confidence and learn more about your abilities.

I recently read a quote by Richard Branson that has really resonated with me.

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

Richard Branson

We can never underestimate the importance of learning and should continue to learn at every possible opportunity. Be open to learning everywhere as it is amazing just how much you can learn from people you meet and the stories they share.

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ELIZABETH BRIGGS DIRECTOR OF LEGAL PAY PA L A U S T R A L I A

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I was born and raised in the suburbs of Sydney and studied law at Macquarie University, graduating in 2009. Aside from one year in my professional working career, I have spent my entire legal career working in-house, primarily in financial services and banking. I am currently the Legal Director for PayPal in Australia and act as the Company Secretary for the PayPal Australia Board. I also have a deep passion for mentoring law students and newly admitted lawyers.

I wish I could say that I pursued a career in-house, but I think it pursued me. I always had a love of reading and writing. At school I had my heart set on working in media, perhaps as a journalist or in public relations. My first year of university I was enrolled in a media and communications degree. It was not until the second year of my degree that I added law after being convinced by a friend that we would have more fun if we were to navigate it together, and, very importantly at the time, to help with our car pool arrangements, as we would be on the same schedule. After one year of taking law subjects, I was fascinated, and I felt strongly that this is where I wanted to take my career when I graduated.

In the summer of 2007, I was enjoying university holidays and while laying on a beach soaking up the sun I received a call from a recruiter asking me if I was available that afternoon to answer telephones on the reception desk of a wholesale fund manager and property development firm. I quickly left the beach, put on the only corporate suit I had at the time and a few hours later I was answering phones in the most formal corporate office I had ever stepped in. At around 5pm, the Managing Director came out to the reception and asked me if I could stay and help him with a presentation that needed to be complete by the morning. His assistant had gone home sick. It was a fortuitous meeting and I ended up working with this company for almost five years from that day. When university resumed after the summer had ended, I switched to take my classes remotely for my final two years and worked full time in Funds Management. In the day I would work and at night I would listen to lectures online and write take home exams.

I went through the process of applying for summer clerkships, convinced that if I was not accepted to a top tier law firm, that my legal career would be over before it had even begun. My Managing Director at the time, who I am still great friends with to this day, convinced me that I would learn much more and really enjoy being part of building a business and offered me a role to stay on as a lawyer, which I accepted, turning down a few clerkship roles in the process. It ended up being one of the best career decisions I have ever made. I quickly found a love for working in-house as a lawyer and I was exposed to some of the most significant life and legal lessons navigating a fund manager and property developer through the Global Financial Crisis, in my first year out of law school. Many years later I realise how grateful I am that I made the decision to stay because that role really developed by passion for working in-house as a lawyer.

Since the start of my career I have sought out mentors who challenged and stretched me in new ways of thinking and didn’t just reaffirm what I wanted to hear. My first boss was extremely generous with his time and constantly invited me to meetings with very senior internal and external stakeholders to give me every opportunity to absorb and learn from some of Sydney’s successful lawyers, barristers and businesspeople. He expected a lot of me at a young age, which taught me how to swim calmly in the deep end of a pool in the first few years after completing my degree.

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The advice I’d share today with my younger self is “the way you approach and deliver legal advice is as important as the advice itself.”

I have been fortunate to meet a number of incredible women, both lawyers and non-lawyers, peers and senior executives, throughout my career, many of whom have become very dear friends. We share ideas, challenge and inspire each other, and above all make ourselves available to each other for a quick check in when it is most needed.

Since joining PayPal, I have had the privilege of working closely with a number of senior women within the legal team including our International General Counsel.

I have been fortunate enough to mentor several brilliant law students and junior lawyers in the last seven or so years. The wisdom they impart and their passion to bring about positive change in the profession is inspiring. They continue to challenge and teach me. The time we spend together is always incredibly rewarding.

My mentors have persistently held me to a very high standard, which at times has felt overwhelming, but ultimately prepared me so well for the different legal roles I have taken over my career. They have also taught me the enormous value of listening and asking for help when you need it. Most importantly they have taught me the secret to being happy at work, which is to find a company and a role that aligns with who you are and that you are innately passionate about.

Being a part of a business and seeing the impact of your advice on its strategy and growth is incredibly fulfilling. Working in-house also allows you to work alongside people who are not lawyers and approach challenges in very different ways. It’s always exciting to be stretched and pushed on a particular approach. The work an in-house lawyer engages in has astonishing breadth. I feel like every day there is an interesting challenge and an opportunity to learn something new.

I find it disappointing that law students continue to feel that they must undertake a clerkship and graduate program at a top tier law firm to have a successful legal career. Whilst the training received during those programs is excellent, I do not believe that it’s a mandatory step. There is much work that we, as in-house lawyers need to do, to ensure that law students understand the incredible opportunities and varied career paths that are available to lawyers who train and work in-house. I think it is also incumbent on senior in-house lawyers to carve out junior roles in their teams to ensure these opportunities are available to junior lawyers.

The advice I’d share today with my younger self is “the way you approach and deliver legal advice is as important as the advice itself.” As an in-house lawyer your clients are often non-lawyers who have little legal training or background. The way you approach their legal dilemma and the way that a solution is presented, is just as critical as the advice that is ultimately provided. This feedback was hard to hear at the time (after I had just provided what I thought to be a very technical, precise piece of advice to an internal stakeholder in marketing) but it completely changed the way that I go about solving challenges and assisting business stakeholders to understand how to navigate complex legal issues.

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SESHANI BALA GROUP EXECUTIVE, GENERAL COUNSEL & C O R P O R AT E A S S U R A N C E C H A R T E R E D A C C O U N TA N T S AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

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I’m of Sri Lankan descent and have lived in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Moving around so much while I was growing up made me develop a flexible and resilient approach to life and change in general.

I love trying new things, doing things differently and I find innovation and disruption both exciting and energising! This has impacted my approach to work, being a lawyer and becoming an in-house lawyer.

When I was in school, I wanted to be a fashion designer! I loved art, design and photography. In school, I focused on the traditional maths and science subjects and then decided I needed a complete change when I started law school.

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I assumed I would stay in private practice for the remainder of my career but when I got my first in-house offer, I was curious to find out about ‘life on the other side’! After I went in-house, I never looked back!”

After graduating law school and getting admitted to the bar in New Zealand, I worked at top tier corporate law firms in Auckland and Sydney as an M&A and private equity lawyer. I assumed I would stay in private practice for the remainder of my career but when I got my first in-house offer, I was curious to find out about ‘life on the other side’! After I went in-house, I never looked back!

After several FMCG roles, I moved to my current in-house role in the professional services and education industry where I head the Corporate Assurance division (legal, governance, risk and compliance).

While I enjoyed the fast-paced deal work in private practice, I never had deep visibility of core commercial operations (e.g. supply chain, product delivery, etc) across their full business life cycle or experienced their enterprise impact.

A couple of private practice clients suggested that I should go in-house. My first in-house role was in a global FMCG company where my remit extended across 43 countries. This was an uphill learning curve, but I loved the breadth of exposure to legal, risk, compliance and governance matters, the opportunities to gain a deep understanding of the relevant industry and provide holistic business solutions rather than siloed legal advice. Moving in-house forced me to give business-ready advice in a format that’s easy to digest, practical and timely. I had to quickly learn how to get comfortable with the ‘grey’ areas and help the business navigate a pathway that delivers commercial outcomes.

Three things that have had the biggest influence on my career are great mentors, my cultural background and upbringing and getting fantastic exposure to international work in offshore markets. I’ve been privileged to have had some great mentors throughout my career. They’ve been critical in providing words of wisdom, guidance and encouraging me to find my voice and make it heard. My cultural background has opened my eyes to embracing differences and pushing for change. This has shaped my views on how we can do law differently and has made me passionate about ensuring that my inhouse legal teams both champion and reflect diversity and inclusion to deliver the best outcomes for business. Having great exposure to international work helped reveal the importance of building cultural intelligence, relationships and soft skills to effectively influence and deliver successful business outcomes.

What I love most about working in-house is being able to push the boundaries!

In-house lawyers are uniquely placed to drive change and champion issues that go to a corporation’s fundamental social licence to operate (e.g. ethics, trust, sustainability, corporate culture, etc). Lawyers who have multi-disciplinary

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The opportunities are endless for in-house lawyers that have a growth mindset and are passionate about being a strategic partner to their business.”

expertise across legal, governance, risk, compliance and technology can shape process synchronisation to drive efficiency, manage risk and leverage data and technology to enable quick scaling of operations. The opportunities are endless for in-house lawyers that have a growth mindset and are passionate about being a strategic partner to their business.

I also love working with all our amazing stakeholders. Being an in-house lawyer has given me opportunities to form long-term relationships with a wide range of stakeholders across the business. Relationship building is so important in-house. If there is a problem, or a potential problem, our business knows that we are their trusted advisers. It’s also a fantastic lifelong learning experience as our stakeholders teach us so much, beyond the law!

I enjoy solving problems, finding a clear path through chaos and working with the business to deliver strategic and operational roadmaps – being in-house offers endless opportunities to do this through a commercially pragmatic lens.

2020 has been a year like no other – COVID-19 has had a huge impact on people and businesses across the globe. We have seen the law change rapidly in such a short period of time in response to the pandemic. My in-house legal team operates across six jurisdictions in Asia-Pacific and the UK and we have never been so busy! I’ve loved working with our in-house lawyers – they have a wide purview, with industry, commercial and digital savvy, and have been critical in enabling our business to rapidly pivot to digital delivery while managing risk at pace.

In saying that, managing high volumes of work, competing priorities and risks is a constant challenge. I thought I would become an expert at managing this as my career progressed, but I haven’t found the answer yet, it’s a constant juggle! There are also lots of meetings, and in the current environment, we’re all experiencing general Zoom-fatigue! There’s definitely an opportunity to cut down meetings, create more ‘thinking time’ during the day and find a more efficient way of managing the inbox.

“

Often, the loudest voice in a room or at the decision-making table isn’t always the right one and the quieter voices aren’t heard – which is why we need to focus on creating more inclusive teams and workplaces!”

One piece of advice I would give my younger self is “trust your judgment.” If you have considered all the options and likely scenarios, assessed the risks and formed a view on an issue, voice your opinion and make sure it’s heard. Often, the loudest voice in a room or at the decision-making table isn’t always the right one and the quieter voices aren’t heard – which is why we need to focus on creating more inclusive teams and workplaces!

16 | ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House

VERITY WHITE LEGAL COUNSEL TELSTRA

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After not really knowing what I wanted to do straight out of high school, I did a Bachelor of Business degree, did some travel, had various stints in publishing, radio, and events. Nothing really got me overly excited. After doing some business law subjects, I thought perhaps I would give the law a try.

I came into law as a ‘mature age’ law student in my early 20s but I really had no idea what was going on. I was working and studying basically off campus so I missed out on lots of the ‘uni’ life. Like the fact that you’re supposed to apply for clerkships in your second last year… Because I did law full time over three years as my second degree, this meant my second year was also my second last year. So, I missed out on clerkships. Looking back this might have been one of the things that started to really irk me about the‘traditional’approach to learning the law and developing a legal career.

Luckily for me, Deakin University was ahead of its time with practical experience for students and had a law subject unit that allowed students to get practical legal experience with different organisations. I was lucky enough to land at Primus Telecom and a small legal team of two lawyers and a paralegal. After performing well during the internship, I was kept on as a paralegal. From there when I finished my studies, I was made a junior legal counsel and then corporate counsel.

I really enjoyed the work that I was getting to do as a paralegal working within a small in-house team. It was like that magic feeling when you are getting paid to do something that you have studied or are studying. I could start to see the practical real-world application of the things that I had learned and was learning at law school. It was the fact that it was really challenging and interesting from day one, and that I could have a positive impact on the business that sparked my interest in pursuing that career in-house and staying in-house.

There have been two key influences in my career, one human and one technology. The human influence, Emily Booth (Special Counsel, Holding Redlich) has been and still is a huge influence on my career. She was inhouse with Primus when I started, and we are still good friends. I was always impressed by her work ethic and integrity, as well as her commercial approach. She had such a confidence and skill in handling legal issues that I was and continue to be impressed with. Her keen sense of integrity inspires me and keeps me focused on the key principle of being a lawyer, that you are accountable to the profession.

The other influence has been technology. Because I did start off in-house, and have worked my way up, in my junior days, I found that I was still responsible for much of the administrative tasks of scanning and filing contracts. This gave me some great base levels of skills, however I wanted to spend less time on the administrative work that needed doing and spend more time on the legal work. So I knew I had to find a way to extend myself and make the team more efficient. Thanks to my general counsel at the time who trusted me with a project to investigate different electronic signature technologies. I learnt a lot about technology and change management. And once we had the technology I just went to town. I probably over-automated things to be honest but I was on a roll.

The flexibility and oversight which the tech gave taught me, and the confidence I gained in working with different documents and ‘fixing’ legal processes was a whole new world. As I was doing that re-design work to automate contracts, I started to notice trends across documents and processes, and that led me to start trying to write down my approach to contract design for automation. From there I started getting involved in plain language and legal innovation events.

The fact I needed to get around a problem of wanting to spend more time on challenging legal work and less time on the inefficient, admin work really changed my career. It’s allowed me to share my approach with other lawyers and it’s so wonderful to hear how all kinds of lawyers are applying some of these methods

“

It was the fact that it was really challenging and interesting from day one, and that I could have a positive impact on the business that sparked my interest in pursuing that career in-house and staying in-house.”

that I created through trial-and-error as a junior legal counsel. It’s allowed me to speak at wonderful events and make connections with people all around the world who also have a passion for plain language, technology, contract design and automation, and how all that works together.

As in-house counsel, I love the practical and hands-on approach we are empowered to take in all we do. It’s wonderful to be able to see a matter through, from early discussions through to negotiations and then a few years later, help renew the contract. I don’t think all lawyers get to have that ongoing connection with their clients as they dip in and out of segments of a client’s life.

One of my favourite things about working in the big (well, mega really) Telstra legal team, is what a great supportive, flexible, and talented group of lawyers there are. It’s actually pretty intimidating – there are 150 lawyers at Telstra, many very senior, and many different teams. We have subject matter experts in basically every facet of the law, and most of them don’t get enough recognition for the incredible work they do every day, for example to carefully unpick complex telecommunications regulations or expertly negotiate contracts with suppliers. I still think the lawyers at Telstra are some of the best lawyers in Australia, because of the breadth of issues and the depth that everyone needs to cover. As an in-house lawyer, you get an amazing opportunity to learn new areas of the law in a practical setting.

If I could change one thing about in-house, I would love to see in-house legal teams negotiate with each other in a more collaborative, proactive, relational way. I would love to start working closely with other passionate in-house legal teams to develop some guidelines for deal negotiations. Imagine a world where we have some guidelines or protocols for engaging on the legal aspects of large contracts or best practice ways of working to allow for smooth and efficient contract negotiations. I think our clients would really appreciate a clearer path with estimated timeframes for contract negotiation. We could use the process to help reduce external spend. It would give a straightforward way to train junior lawyers and where possible, delegate non-legal tasks to appropriate resources.

So, if anyone is reading this, and you find the current methods of deal negotiation inefficient and not practical to implement on the other side, reach out and let’s start a bit of a working group or committee to put a legal design lens on contract negotiations. Or, if there already has been work in this area, please point me towards the resources so I can get stuck in!

Sometimes I wish I had gone straight into law out of high school, and just got gotten into the industry a lot quicker. Other times I feel that my life experience has given me a real understanding of the broader commercial implications of the law.

If I could go back in time, I also probably would have pushed myself to get more involved in university events and start growing my network earlier. I didn’t start ‘networking’ (formally or informally!) until I was working full time in the law.

Making connections with other industries, or with other professionals is so important. So my advice would be to get involved more in areas you are interested in (not just events or groups you think you ‘should’ be interested in) and start connecting the dots a lot sooner if you can.

18 | ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House

K AVITHA GUPTA S E N I O R C O R P O R AT E C O U N S E L JUNIPER NETWORKS

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“

if you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it; teach yourself to be impatient. Take the initiative and steal the opportunity.“

I have almost 20 years of experience working across various industries in technology, aviation and the telecom sector and I currently work with Juniper Networks’ Go to Market segment where I am responsible for India and South Asia. I have previously held leadership positions in Airbus Group India, Hitachi Consulting and Wipro Technologies where I developed extensive knowledge on commercial contracts, privacy and technology matters, U.S. ethical conduct, export control laws and compliance-related risks. I am also a co-founder of the Indian Corporate Counsel Forum of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

I wanted to be a lawyer from a young age. As a child, I admired Mahatma Gandhi and the changes he brought to society. I was particularly inspired by his early work in law where he believed that the “true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder.” He inspired me to follow my passion as a lawyer and genuinely help resolve issues between parties.

When I finished school, I went on to study law at the University Law College in Bangalore. After graduating I decided to expand my knowledge and went on to complete a Master’s degree in Business Law from the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in 2004. I also completed postgraduate programs specialising in Intellectual Property law and Cyber laws from NALSAR and a Privacy Professional Certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). I have always believed in ongoing education to constantly improve my skills and become better at my jobs.

After graduating from law in 2002, I started my career in private practice. I was handling arbitration and commercial litigation matters in Karnataka High Court. As a litigator, I learnt to strategise, dive deeper into the facts and remain grounded to the law, local rules and the Court’s procedures and peculiarities to constantly weigh the risks. After working in private practice for four years, I started my first in-house role in 2006 when I joined a company called Max Hypermarket, a Landmark Group Company. I learnt an important lesson in this role from the CFO of the company, that I need to be a lawyer with business acumen and protect the interests of the company. I quickly grasped the company’s business and its approach to the legal matters.

A few years later, I decided to make the switch to the IT industry and joined Wipro Technologies. This role gave me a strong foundation on global compliance and employment matters.

Later I joined Hitachi Consulting as their first legal counsel for the Asia Pacific region. I was responsible for advising the

company on entering the Asia Pacific market, addressing the opportunities and challenges of entering new markets. I also had an opportunity to work in the aviation industry for Airbus Group as legal head for India. I had the opportunity to set up the first Flight Training Centre in India.

Through my career and experience working across various sectors, I have had the chance to expose myself to different environments and companies. This not only made me realise what kind of work I like to do and what I am good at, but it also made me appreciate and enjoy the fact that I have found a job that fits me. I took the risk to step out of my comfort zone and explore the uncertain journey of discovering a new area and new challenges.

There have been a number of people who have influenced my career. One of the most influential has been my father. He taught me the power of teamwork and dedication and the value of knowledge. These skills have served me well throughout my career and are a big part of why I am where I am today.

I have also had the privilege of the great support and guidance from senior colleagues across the organisations I have worked for. These opportunities and the chance I had to learn from them has been incredible and truly made an impact on my professional development.

There are many things I love about working in-house. As an inhouse lawyer working for a global company, I enjoy handling cross-border transactions and compliance. I get to make a significant contribution to my company’s business operations both in the region as well as contribute to the global initiatives.

Today the role of in-house counsel has evolved from a guardian of the company’s integrity and reputation to a strategic adviser to the board and CEO. A good in-house counsel requires a strong understanding of the business, its goals and its strategic objectives. In order to be a good in-house counsel, you need to be a good strategic adviser and this involves expanding your business knowledge, gaining financial acumen and developing leadership skills; these skills need to be nurtured and taught from the very beginning, whether it be at university or in the first in-house role.

The advice that I’d like to give to my younger self is if you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it; teach yourself to be impatient. Take the initiative and steal the opportunity. Keep yourself updated and well informed.

20 | ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House

RUBY A N A N D A J AYA S E K E R A M SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL G L O B A L L I T I G AT I O N ( A S I A PA C I F I C ) SHELL AUSTRALIA I consider myself a global citizen; I have Sri Lankan heritage, I was born in Canada, I spent my childhood in Africa, migrated to Australia when I was 13 and I’m lucky to call Australia home. I am married to Ned, an architect, and we have a wonderful daughter, Annika, who is now ten. We all work together to support and enable a dual career family. I love great coffee, food and wine, travel, walking, yoga, time with my family and have found a new hobby during the recent lockdowns in Melbourne, gardening.

I am currently Senior Legal Counsel, Global Litigation (Asia Pacific) at Shell, responsible for managing disputes in Australia and NZ, as well as more complex matters in Asia Pacific. This role provides me with the opportunity to work with people from all around the world and learn about doing business in different cultures. The majority of my career has been at Shell in various legal roles, spanning international arbitrations, to cross-border M&A, as well as operational legal roles. Prior to Shell, I was at Allens Linklaters for five years, where I learned from some of the best lawyers in Australia.

When I was young, I thought I wanted to be a doctor because my parents wanted me to be a doctor (they considered medicine to be the most noble

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profession). I missed out on entry to study medicine by one mark and I was devastated. My focus on becoming a doctor meant that I hadn’t given much thought to what I would do as an alternative. I was 17 and it was probably the first time I felt real failure, disappointment, and more importantly that I had let my parents down. But I have always been resilient and believed in the power of hard work – I picked myself up and started to explore other opportunities.

My mum was keen for me to study law, but I refused to do law ‘just because I got the marks’. I started off studying an economics and commerce degree at the Australian National University to complement my strengths at school. I was one of very few girls in my high school who excelled in math and physics (despite my physics teacher telling me in Year 11 that I would be better off doing home economics as it might be better suited to me…boy was he wrong, and I was determined to prove him otherwise!). I was surrounded by law students at my residential college, and ended up transferring to a commerce and law degree after my first year at university, though I promised myself I would never become a lawyer (my closest connections with anyone in the law at that point were the characters from the TV shows Ally McBeal and The Practice). After a summer clerkship at Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks (now Allens Linklaters), I developed an appreciation for legal practice which I had not expected – I really enjoyed it and have not looked back.

After finishing my degree, I started my career at Allens, and like most young lawyers around me, I thought I would stay in private practice and become a partner. Two things changed my course. First, a secondment to Shell early in my third year (it was fun practising at the coal-face and I enjoyed exercising a commercial mindset). Second, a realisation shortly after I got married that despite the great people and quality work, I wanted better integration between my work and my life outside of work and I wasn’t sure I could achieve it in private practice. Fortunately, the planets aligned, and I moved into an-house role at Shell in my fifth year. I was drawn to the in-house way of practising, as well as the people, culture, global business, and interesting and challenging work.

“

celebrate your differences, be proud of it, and don’t leave it at the door when you walk into your workplace… always believe in yourself and never give up.”

Many people have influenced my career including my mentors and sponsors and my husband, Ned. My mentors and sponsors have backed me, given me confidence, actively advocated for and helped me become more‘visible’. They have opened their networks to create opportunities for me that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. We all need a bit of encouragement and support to take the next step.

From my own experience, I have learnt the importance of mentoring and actively advocating for those around us (particularly to those who are different from us and those from underrepresented groups) – it truly makes a difference and will make the world a better place.

They also helped me appreciate the importance of bringing out the best in people, and how we each need to support each other in this regard. A couple of years ago, a colleague and I designed and rolled-out a reverse mentoring program globally that focused on Shell’s legal leaders reflecting on their leadership style and how they could become more inclusive leaders. We had over 100 people participate, and the feedback was humbling.

My husband Ned has always been supportive of me pursuing my career and flexible about how we managed things at home. I have worked part-time time; we both have worked part-time, now Ned works part-time. I wouldn’t be in my current role (which has a bit of travel, and many early morning and late night calls), without Ned (and Annika’s) support.

While I never had a fixed plan for how my career would start or pan out (and still don’t), I have always had high expectations of myself, value for hard work, authenticity, integrity and have had strong drive and ambition. People are my strength and I have a lot of energy for my career – I have followed the path that allowed me to enjoy what I do and that has served me well.

Working in-house gives me the opportunity to have a seat at the table, partner with colleagues in the business to find solutions and tackle challenging issues.

I get a buzz out of combining the legal perspective with advice on strategy and commercial issues and driving our business forward sustainably in accordance with our values and with the long game in mind.

I was fortunate to have been mentored by some inspirational male partners who believed in me and have continued to take an interest in and support me through my career. There were few female role models (particularly in M&A) when I started my career, and those that made it to the top had so many war stories to share. More recently, I have had young female lawyers of colour come up to me and say how great it is to see a senior lawyer from an ethnic background. They have shared with me how that helps them see a path in the profession. It has caused me to stop and reflect on the importance of role-models and how when ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’, there may be an invisible hurdle that can make it harder to reach your true potential.

The in-house legal profession has changed considerably since I joined it 16 years ago.

Back then, there was a bit of a stigma around in-house lawyers often being seen as the lawyers who didn’t quite cut it in private practice.The tide has changed, and a career inhouse is now highly sought after. Whilst in-house law is growing exponentially, I think we can do a lot more to leverage our influence on the legal profession more generally - I’d like to see each of us do more to change the culture to achieve a more accessible, inclusive, collaborative and caring profession. Pay it forward.

“

My mentors and sponsors have backed me, given me confidence, actively advocated for and helped me become more ‘visible’. They have opened their networks to create opportunities for me that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. We all need a bit of encouragement and support to take the next step.”

If I could give my younger self one piece of advice it would be “celebrate your differences, be proud of it, and don’t leave it at the door when you walk into your workplace…always believe in yourself and never give up.” It has been a journey for me, and I have become increasingly involved in advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. For me, it took getting to a certain level of seniority to feel more comfortable advocating for these values in the workplace. Some of these conversations are harder (and more uncomfortable) than others. I have few peers who are women (or men) of colour which makes the topic of ethnic and racial diversity in the workplace a more challenging topic to confront than gender and one that I have shied away from until recently. I have realised, though, that if we don’t have the courage to have these difficult conversations, listen, and take action, things won’t change. While we have come a long way, we still have a long way to go. I am inspired by young lawyers who have the courage to speak up about what they believe in and am committed to doing what I can to support them and to contribute to meaningful and lasting change in this space.

22 | ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House

GEORGETTE APOSTOLOPOULOS P R I N C I PA L L E G A L CO U N S E L DELIVEROO AUSTRALIA

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I am a Melbourne based lawyer with a colourful and interesting history in government and commercial in-house roles. My current role as the principal legal counsel at Deliveroo Australia allows me to combine my passion for the law with my interest in contributing to policy and legislative reform. It’s exciting and challenging (for which I am very grateful especially in a year where hobbies are ‘cancelled’). Although I am the only commercial counsel in Australia, I am surrounded by a vibrant global team of Deliveroo in-house counsel.

“

Rather than always getting into trouble for debating with my parents, my family planted the seed that if I became a lawyer, I would get paid to argue.”

Aside from a fleeting moment as a child when I thought I would grow up to be an inventor (of ‘cool things’), the first pivotal moment in my legal career occurred when I was eight years old. Rather than always getting into trouble for debating with my parents, my family planted the seed that if I became a lawyer, I would get paid to argue. This sounded like a great idea to my eight-year-old self and it stuck!

After spending my childhood waiting to become a lawyer, followed by five years at law school, I graduated in the usual fashion. Yet despite setting out on a straight and narrow journey to fulfil my destiny working at commercial law firm (with a great view of the city), I found myself on a very different path.

Much to the dismay of my family and others who knew me, I joined Customs (Border Force). Over the next few years, I worked as a customs investigator, pursuing the evidence in relation to various illegal activities concerning the Australian border. Whether it was the unauthorised importation of weapons, steroids or other banned ingredients, I was involved in obtaining and executing warrants, interviewing persons of interest and making arrests. I even had a badge (and no, I was never on Border Security).

Once an investigation was complete, I would often be required to brief counsel if charges were justified. After all, that part of the case preparing the legal arguments for the court - was a task for the lawyers.

Yet letting the matter go so that a lawyer could take carriage of the case didn’t sit well with me; and my interest in intellectual property had continued to grow in spite of my exposure to criminal law. Being connected to the legal system was not enough. I decided it was time to get back on track with my goal of being a lawyer.

My interest in working as an in-house lawyer certainly was not by my own making or design; nor is it where my days as a lawyer began. I started at the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office (VGSO) where I had the opportunity to contribute to high profile commercial matters.

Not only were the matters interesting, I had great exposure to clients and drew on my previous experience at Customs to build trusted relationships.

Eventually, the law firm required me to undertake a part-time secondment with a client (and at the time I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted an in-house experience – the fact is I’d never contemplated an in-house role). Once based at the client’s office, I realised how much fun it was to practice law when working alongside my clients, in an

“

One of the great challenges of in-house roles is juggling the balance of being a trusted, commercially savvy business partner, with the key obligation of providing frank and independent legal advice to the company and its employees – who are also your colleagues.”

environment that allowed me to see the outcomes of the legal advice I was providing on a daily basis. Once I’d had a taste of law in-house, I didn’t look back.

Three things that have had the biggest influence on my career have been taking a chance on interesting opportunities, having great mentors and working with people who believed in me.

At the VGSO, I was allocated to work with special counsel, Isabel Parsons, an accomplished IP expert with a remarkable legal career as a partner in a top tier firm, as a barrister, as an in-house lawyer and then in government. Isabel wasn’t just my boss – she became my mentor, and remains my mentor and friend to this day, even though we haven’t worked together for almost 10 years (when you find a good mentor, hang on to them). Isabel taught me the value of genuinely collaborating and connecting with clients and colleagues at all levels.

When I joined Macquarie Media (now Nine Radio) in an in-house role some years after VGSO and with a wealth of experience in commercial government in-house roles, it was my first legal role completely outside the public sector. Looking back, I need not have been nervous at the switch I was making. Alessandra Steele, my manager and general counsel at the time, always made me feel capable and believed in me.

If you manage people, do it with this type of positivity.

One of the great challenges of in-house roles is juggling the balance of being a trusted, commercially savvy business partner, with the key obligation of providing frank and independent legal advice to the company and its employees – who are also your colleagues. A reason that I love working in-house is that I am often involved in the action rather than providing discrete or detached advice. But working inhouse adds an additional layer of involvement (and complexity) in supporting the business with its commercial decisions.

Our responsibility to provide sound legal advice, that both protect the interests of the company (who is also your employer) and facilitates its commercial and innovative endeavours, can lead to some wellmeaning tensions on occasion.

If I could go back in time and share one piece of advice with my younger self, I’d remind myself not to take it personally if a colleague isn’t thrilled about adjusting their plans to take into account the legal advice– after all, they are probably just as passionate about their work as you are about yours!

Oh and one other thing: take up more opportunities to attend conferences and training on areas of law you are interested in or need to learn more about – you will always have too much on ‘at the moment’ and your colleague will almost invariably need that contract yesterday.

24 | ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House

KELLIE MORTON CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER ILLION

I am currently the Chief Legal Officer of data and analytics business, illion, based in Melbourne. Prior to that I was a M&A/Private Equity Partner of Johnson Winter & Slattery in Sydney. Saying that, I’ve taken many twists, turns, roundabouts and flights…

I grew up on the sunny beaches of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Growing up, I wanted to be a music journalist for Rolling Stone magazine.

I studied a double degree in journalism and law at Queensland University of Technology. While at university I wrote for a few free music ‘street’ papers - the kind you picked up at music stores that had gig listings, band interviews and live reviews. But then the internet really exploded, paper publishing started its decline and Rolling Stone no longer featured writing by journalists like Hunter S. Thompson or artists like Kurt Cobain on the cover.

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“

Racing around the city serving documents before deadline, interviewing clients to draft their statements of claim and learning how to count the concept of ‘days’ under the law sparked a journey I could never have foreseen.“

Around this time, I started working at a commercial litigation firm in Brisbane.

Racing around the city serving documents before deadline, interviewing clients to draft their statements of claim and learning how to count the concept of ‘days’ under the law sparked a journey I could never have foreseen. After I graduated, I started as a Graduate at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in the Corporate/M&A team in Brisbane. This was an excellent training ground which instilled technical skills that have stayed with me throughout my career.

After a few years I moved to London and joined the M&A/Private Equity team of global law firm, White & Case. It was an incredible experience working on global M&A deals and travelling to Paris, Egypt and Moscow. I remember going to the office in London on a regular morning and then next minute I was on a plane to Egypt. By that evening, I was in a taxi travelling from Cairo airport to a hotel, stuck in traffic behind a cow (on the highway). The next day, seeing the pyramids from the general counsel’s office was genuinely amazing.

From London, I transferred with White & Case to its head office in New York. I lived and worked in Manhattan, drank coffee from a street cart and toned-down my Australian accent. My office overlooked the Chrysler building to the East and the Empire State to the South - I think I saw those buildings in every light from sunrise to sunset to moonlight. In New York, I focused on Private Equity and M&A – by its nature, the US market is incredibly sophisticated. The skills, market practice and international exposure has been invaluable to my career. During this time abroad, I qualified in London and sat the New York Bar Exam to be admitted to practice in New York. It’s true, sitting the New York Bar Exam is hard (but possible).

After working overseas for most of my career I moved back to Sydney and re-joined Corrs Chambers Westgarth – shortly thereafter my team moved to Johnson Winter & Slattery (JWS) where I made Partner. At JWS, I continued to focus on M&A and Private Equity, with a focus on cross-border deals. My experience in the US was useful when acting for US PE funds investing in the Australian market, particularly being able to translate Australian/American practice. It was at this point my career took an interesting turn and my in-house journey really kicked off!

With a heavy-heart, I left the Partnership. My time in private practice was formative and I was grateful for the experience. Some of my closest and most valued friendships have come from my years in law firms around the world - there is nothing like working back to back all-nighters to form unbreakable bonds.

I moved (again) to Melbourne and to a new role as the Chief Operating Officer/ Legal Counsel of an architecture and interior design studio. I was exposed to running all aspects of a business, including finance, operations, business development and HR. The workplace was creative and dynamic, and I loved working with the talented designers. To my surprise, architects billed their time like lawyers, so the business model was familiar.

My career then went full circle and I joined illion (formerly Dun & Bradstreet) as Chief Legal Officer. Back at JWS, I had worked on the acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet for its current private equity owner. At illion, I am a member of the

Executive Leadership Team and responsible for defining and executing the global legal, regulatory and compliance strategy for the illion group. illion has operations across Australia, New Zealand, UK, EU and Canada and the illion legal team advises on a broad range of complex legal matters across the fintech space, including IP and licencing, privacy and data protection, new product launches, M&A and partnerships. That said, my career is about to change again… watch this space.

Working in M&A, gives you exposure to a wide variety of businesses across many different industries. While in private practice, I had gained exposure to businesses in diverse sectors like luxury fashion, technology, entertainment and financial services. I always found learning, investigating and understanding businesses incredibly interesting. I saw in-house as an opportunity to get greater exposure to the full context of a business – its products, services, risk appetite, growth plans, motives and objectives and ultimately be part of its journey. This opportunity for exposure and the diversity of an in-house role attracted me to the industry.

An in-house legal team is one of the few business functions that sees the full spectrum of a business. That kind of exposure keeps the position challenging and fresh. In-house also allows you to really refine a sense of commerciality - for any lawyer working in a commercial or corporate environment, understanding the commercial and financial impact of a decision is an important factor in being able to confidently weigh up the risks and deliver appropriate advice.

My mentors and my experience overseas have been invaluable to shaping me personally and professionally. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had the guidance and support of mentors throughout my career. For the most part, those have been informal relationships which makes me value them even more.

I haven’t always taken the advice (as some of those people will know) but I have always listened and valued the perspective. Spending the formative years of my career overseas was equal parts hard and fun. I gained a true global perspective – closing deals across multiple jurisdictions teaches you the value of context, communication and organisation. There are many principles and practices we can learn from our global colleagues (and vice versa).

One area about in-house I’m keen to see develop is the access to, and use of, technology to efficiently manage the in-house function and its administration.

Often legal teams need to slot into the business’ existing software and systems which are not really fit for purpose for effectively managing a legal function.

Fortunately, there are more and more legal technologies and innovations emerging in the space so I’m confident this will change. After all, I did learn to type on a typewriter and now we can mark-up documents in real-time over Zoom.

“

If I could remind my younger self one piece of advice it would be that “It will all work out.” You can never predict where you will end up but every experience along the way builds up the foundation.

All those twists, turns, roundabouts and flights that you take will lead somewhere great!

If I could remind my younger self one piece of advice it would be that “It will all work out.” You can never predict where you will end up but every experience along the way builds up the foundation. All those twists, turns, roundabouts and flights that you take will lead somewhere great!

Since the interview, Kellie has moved to a new role.

26 | ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House

“

I was driving to work. It was hot, the lights were red, I had a lot on my mind. My phone went off. I went to grab it, I probably shouldn’t have. It was work. Again.

Things started closing in. I remember feeling sweat on my face, and my chest so full it was about to burst. I was sure I was about to die. I pulled over, someone called an ambulance.

Anna, 27, a solicitor with a mid-tier law firm, was diagnosed with panic attacks.

Stress, anxiety, depression … we all have these at some point in our lives. Sometimes they come and go quickly. But sometimes we don’t just ‘get over it’.

Getting help might seem hard.

Or awkward.

It shouldn’t be.

Help is available. And it is effective.

Anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders are all treatable.

A healthy workplace should support you. Check out the Minds Count website for the factors that promote a psychologically healthy workplace.

Greg de Moore A/Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital, Sydney Director, Minds Count

“

I had 30 e-mails left to do. I’d just sent one with a few grammatical errors. I was stewing about it. It was trivial, I know. But I was at the bottom of a deep bloody pit. My girlfriend was overseas, she was supposed to text. She didn’t. Work was all over me. My supervisor was never helpful. Ever. Before I knew it, I was alone in the toilet and crying.

Dan, 24, first-year out from law school, was diagnosed with and treated for depression.

mindscount.org

For further information you can visit the following websites:

beyondblue.org.au

lifeline.org.au

blackdoginstitute.org.au

ACC AUSTRALIA Women in the House | 27

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