Australian Corporate Lawyer - Summer 2018

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LEGAL TEAM OF THE YEAR - LARGE
EnergyAustralia
LEGAL TEAM OF THE YEAR - SMALL
Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)
“
Each member of the legal team is an expert in their
profession, totally reliable, skilled at adapting their
knowledge for application to new contexts, products
and services and unfailingly capable of delivering
under pressure. They are prepared to have the
difficult conversations, if need be, to ensure that
EnergyAustralia not only complies with the
law, but also furthers our company’s purpose
and values. All of this in the context of a
transforming energy company in a dynamic
and rapidly changing external environment.
Chris Ryan, General Counsel and
Company Secretary
“
SBS legal is an intrinsic
part of the SBS fabric.
They are approachable,
innovative and importantly,
understands and practices
the SBS culture and values
which aims to inspire all
Australians.
Michael Ebeid AO, Former
Managing Director & CEO
2011-2018
A
bold, supportive approach
characterises the EnergyAustralia
legal team as true business partners
of the wider business and one that is at the
forefront of energy law. Now comprising
fourteen lawyers (having recently welcomed
one new lawyer and the team’s first lawyer
under supervised legal practice) sitting
within a broader Legal & Governance
function that includes Company Secretary,
Regulatory Compliance and support staff, the
legal team advises and influences all levels of
EnergyAustralia: from the Board of Directors
and Executive Management Team (EMT), to
the customer-facing staff and those working
behind the scenes in power generation.
During a time of unprecedented change
and innovation in the energy industry,
the EnergyAustralia legal team is regularly
required to quickly adapt by identifying
new ways to support increasing demand
for legal services. This involves advising on
new business activities and technologies
and preparing for current and anticipated
changes in a highly regulated business
environment.
In championing the term risk-based decision
making, the EnergyAustralia legal team prides
itself on providing commercial and risk-aware
advice to help the organisation achieve its
goals and advance its values. Two examples
of this approach include firstly, the delivery of
a two-day workshop with the top leadership
of EnergyAustralia that sought to develop
a framework for improved decision making
across EnergyAustralia, known as ‘Breakfree.’
Secondly, the development of a number
of tools that assist in identifying high-risk
matters requiring early legal engagement.
tools have resulted in sustained year-onyear
savings in total legal spend. Through
a consolidated panel of external law firms
using an innovative engagement approach,
EnergyAustralia’s total annual legal spend is
now just 0.13% of turnover.
Importantly the EnergyAustralia legal team
practices an internal culture of engagement
and support. Team members are encouraged
and empowered to look after themselves,
look out for each other and recognise
each other’s achievements. This approach
encompasses a number of continuing
initiatives including supporting flexible work
practices, celebrating better ways of working
and offering training and development
opportunities, including leadership programs
for emerging and senior leaders. The team
also actively participates in volunteering,
wellbeing and social activities, and has
leadership roles in key diversity and inclusion
initiatives, including EnergyAustralia’s
Women’s Network, Reconciliation Action Plan
and LGBTIQ+ “Prism” Network.
In accepting the award, General Counsel and
Company Secretary of Energy Australia, Chris
Ryan said, “it is a great honour to receive
this prestigious award, which recognises
the team’s capabilities, commercial acumen
and backbone. Above all I am proud of the
remarkable culture in our team.”
Also recognised on the night were the
Large Legal Team of the Year finalists:
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.
The team engenders a culture that consistently
balances legal obligations with strategic
objectives to deliver solutions-focused advice.
LGD demonstrated this when leading whole-ofgovernment
negotiations with Timor-Leste in the
first ever conciliation under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The LGD legal team is committed to fostering a
collegiate environment that engenders support
for all staff. LGD is a departmental leader in
facilitating flexible work practices with more than
one quarter of LGD’s staff utilising a variety of
flexible work arrangements.
HydroElectric Corporation (Hydro
Tasmania)
Eighteen months ago, the Hydro Tasmania
Legal Services team embarked on a growth
strategy that was focussed on building
internal knowledge capital, reducing
reliance on external legal resources and
improving the efficiency and quality of legal
service delivery. This growth strategy drove a
number of business improvement initiatives,
has significantly improved efficiency and has
freed up legal resources to focus on more
complex and strategic legal work.
All members of the Hydro Tasmania
Legal Services team have a documented
development plan which captures learning
goals, and a plan for achieving those
goals. Development is undertaken in a variety
of different ways, including practical, ‘on the job’
training where appropriate. One recent example
was when the General Counsel spent time
working alongside the energy traders in the
As a multicultural broadcaster in a rapidly
changing media environment, the
SBS legal team has demonstrated an
innovative and agile approach to navigating
the complex legal and commercial challenges
befitting a public service broadcaster receiving
both public and commercial income. Led
by General Counsel Lesley Power, a member
of the SBS executive team, the legal team
consists of nine lawyers and legal operational
Rights, archives and information management
teams who proudly collaborate across seven
separate organisational divisions within the
organisation.
The SBS legal team pride themselves on the
provision of a supportive and agile legal
service to the wider organisation. Over the
past year the team has demonstrated this
approach through the delivery of a range of
initiatives that have provided fundamental
value and increased awareness of legal
considerations within the wider organisation.
The team pioneered what they’ve termed
the ‘legal pod structure, where small ‘pods’ of
lawyers led by a pod ‘ambassador’ proactively
engage with specific divisions to anticipate
legal needs and ensure the pod is abreast of
relevant legal and industry developments. The
SBS Media Law Minute (MLM) was developed
as an avenue to keeping divisions informed
and represents bite-sized summaries of
current issues, including practical ‘takeaways.’
The team have also created bespoke face-toface
training courses for the team on relevant
legal matters, while in keeping the fast delivery
and increasing volume of cross-platform
news content, SBS Legal offers practical prepublication
advice 24/7 for the production
teams.
on a range of major projects that have been
fundamental to meeting the organisations’
strategic objectives.
••
FIFA World Cup 2018: Embarking on a
new partnership with Optus, SBS Legal
was an integral part of the negotiation
team working with key executives to
ensure this deal met SBS’s strategic
objectives and satisfied audience
expectations. When broadcast plans
significantly changed mid-World Cup, the
legal team was called upon to provide
quick and commercially sound advice,
to ensure the continued coverage of this
global event to an Australian audience.
••
Digital Acceleration Strategy: SBS
Legal has led the development and
implementation of the SBS privacy
framework, which is essential with the
growth of SBS OnDemand.
••
Governance: as a public service
broadcaster established by statute, SBS
Legal carefully balances legal obligations
under relevant legislation with
commercial opportunities.
As a visible and critical part of the organisation,
SBS Legal play an active role in contributing
to SBS’s culture of active inclusion. The legal
netball team is a regular participant in the
organisation-wide competition; the team is
also an active participant in the SBS Mardi
Gras float and the SBS volunteer program
supporting local charities. Furthermore, as a
team, SBS Legal is committed to continuous
development and skill-building and team
members are encouraged to actively pursue
opportunities to give back to the industry
and legal community. The team are regular
participants in the SBS/Macquarie University
Media Mentorship Program; has led and
driven SBS’s Reconciliation Action Plan and are
regularly invited to present at legal/industry
ACC Australia also recognises the Small
legal team of the year finalists:
L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand
L’Oreal’s legal team consists of three forward
thinking lawyers, who work across two
jurisdictions on legal strategy, leading legal
innovation and championing privacy and data.
Known amongst the business as offering efficient,
timely and proactive legal advice, 93% of L’Oreal’s
matters are managed in-house rather than by an
external law firm. The L'Oréal ANZ Legal Team has
also inspired the Global L’Oréal Legal Executive
Committee and several other L’Oréal legal teams
to embrace legal innovation and legal technology.
Melbourne Water Corporation
The MW Legal team has a customer orientated
approach to providing a positive experience for
their internal customers. Taking their innovation
cue from Melbourne Water’s focus on Continuous
Improvement and Innovation, the team has
transformed itself from being a legal help desk
to providing targeted legal advice that has the
most impact. One example of this approach to
continuous improvement and innovation was
the implementation of a system to control the
manner and flow of work (no more briefs by
chain emails) which provides internal clients
with downloadable legal products to enable and
empower them to get on with the job. a
Through its Corporate Law and International business to develop relationships and learn more
Law Practice Groups, DFAT’s Legal Division (LGD) about energy trading. a
Further to these ongoing business
These and other initiatives including the provides advice that is vital to DFAT and whole-ofgovernment
improvements, over the past year, SBS legal
implementation of efficiency and automation
decision-making on a range of issues
has been tasked with providing critical advice
ranging from Australia’s foreign aid program, to
conferences and present to law students.
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