In her role heading up Telsta, Ms Mulhern was named Corporate Lawyer of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACLA). She joined Telstra in 2000 after a successful career at Mallesons Stephen Jacques (now King Wood Mallesons). She manages one of the largest in-house corporate legal teams in Australia, with members also located in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, London and New York. She will address the GC Futures Summit on 'Creating a world class in-house legal department now and for the future.'

Global Legal Post: What new initiatives has the legal department at Telstra taken this year? 

Carmel Mulhern: My team and I have been thinking a lot about two very important subjects: innovation and our risk appetite. In many ways, the two are related. We need to think about how we can do things differently – finding new solutions to new and reoccurring issues. Sometimes this means testing our appetite for risk. In a world of constrained resources, I want to make sure my team is working on those matters of the highest value. We are challenging ourselves to think about what risks are acceptable to the business and how we might respond as a result.

GLP: What issues are top of your agenda?

CM: Taking care of my team and supporting the company strategy are always on the top of my agenda. As a leader, I know I need to bring my team with me on the journey and help them understand why we are doing what we are doing. Telstra is changing – we’re no longer a traditional telco; our vision is to be a a world class technology company that empowers people to connect. That’s another reason why we need to think differently about how we do things.

GLP: How is the Telstra legal team innovating?

CM: We have been looking closely at how best to harness the power of technology. We have been experimenting with automation and technology. For example, we have completed a huge project on automating our Non-Disclosure Agreements. Doing this saves us time and money. We’re also looking at how we spend our time, trying to ensure we use it wisely. We have also been doing more work to lower cost centres, where it is possible to do so. For example, we have been using LPOs for some due diligence work which has proven to be very effective. 

GLP: What issues are keeping GCs awake at night in Australia and globally?

CM: I suspect we all face similar issues. For me they would be:

• How do I build a high performing, agile, world class legal team that improves each year? 

• How can I best demonstrate the value of the legal team?

• How do I cover the increased volume of legal work in an environment where resources (financial and people) are constrained.

GLP: What is the secret of good leadership? 

CM: The 3 Cs - Clarity around purpose, objectives and values; a Climate that creates a great culture; and Competence in knowledge, skills, behaviour and attitudes.