The road ahead

From that point on, Mak began charting her course, from law school to her current role as lead in-house litigation counsel in APAC for the Bank. Prior to joining RBS, Mak completed her training contract with Allen & Overy in Hong Kong. And though difficult to secure at the time (with fierce competition from some of her contemporaries graduating from law school) Mak was “lucky” to land a job there given that her application was submitted late, as she recalls. Her two year training contract afforded her the opportunity to work in both Hong Kong and London. And ultimately she chose to specialise in litigation preferring to “draft pleadings and witness statements” over “putting together agreements and prospectuses because it was more in the manner of story-telling.”

A sideways career shift however eventually took her in-house when she impress the RBS legal team whilst on secondment there in 2010. She was covering for a lawyer on leave when the Bank asked her to come on board as their permanent regional litigation counsel. Given the ever-changing nature of her current role, Mak comments that the position itself has given her the flexibility to mould the role over time and adjust to changes in the economy. For her, because the nature of her role is fairly mercurial, it keeps her motivated and ready to hit the office in the mornings because she knows every day is not going to be “groundhog day.” And this, for Mak, is infinitely preferable compared to private practice because she can additionally operate with flexibility and work efficiently with remote access through the use of her blackberry.

As far as a day in the life for Mak goes, her average 9 am – 7 pm has changed quite a bit over the last two years. From being involved in mostly dispute resolution “I now find myself heavily involved in regulatory work” and “because things are happening faster now, you have to keep abreast of the changes and be prepared to take on new challenges.”

With RBS coming under fire recently and making headline news, she admits that the team has had to become resilient to criticism and stay optimistic. “It is a sluggish time in the economy right now and we understand that under the microscope, the whole industry is like this, not just RBS,” she comments.

Despite having to ride the downswing of the bell curve, for Mak, what makes RBS a particularly attractive place to work is its “flat hierarchy” within their legal department. “Everyone’s input is appreciated and your voice
gets heard.”

In terms of the make-up of her team, Mak values soft skills almost as much as the requisite technical skill set. Keeping up to speed on matters outside the legal realm are just as important and she is a firm believer in her team members keeping themselves, “relevant and current.” Mak also places a premium on analytical skills; people that drill down past the facts and who possess the ability to view a problem from more than one angle…these are both highly valued traits. “Taking things at face value is not a positive attribute for a lawyer,” she explains, “you cannot be afraid to test people’s perceptions.” And although likely a generic characteristic sought out by employers in most fields, Mak appreciates a positive attitude and the energy and drive that go hand in hand with it. She believes that an upbeat personality can be pivotal to “moving things forward in the right direction.”

When asked about challenges encountered at work, mediation is one of her bug bears. She quite candidly tells us that “mediation throws discipline off balance. We are asked to think from the opponent’s angle…. It’s about trying to find a consensus that allows both parties to walk away satisfied.”

When asking Mak about what changes she foresees in the region as well as globally, she believes that legal teams will play an ever increasing role with lawyers being “the gatekeeper or risk manager of every deal.” Anticipating and avoiding risk will be critical and in an attempt to do this she has to stay connected and plugged in to the business as well as current affairs. For Mak this represents the main challenge going forward. “People generally don’t want to think about litigation or regulatory problems, so their first point of call is usually their transaction lawyers – but in order to manage risk, I have to be kept in the loop and continue to market my practice area.” She hopes to emulate the established template set up by their EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and US counterparts, adapting it as necessary to conform to the APAC region. Part of staying in the loop and keeping her finger on the pulse involves canvassing good relationships with external counsel. “Trusting and enjoying working with them plays a big part in continued involvement. We tend to work with lawyers who understand our internal controls and procedures and we expect an intrinsic understanding of the nature of our business from them.”

As to her move from private practice to in-house, Mak candidly states that it is not for everyone. There are fundamental non-legal elements that are part and parcel of the job, such as time management, costs and stakeholder relationships. And “there are many more variables one has to include in their decision making to reach a beneficial and effective solution.” According to Mak, intuition is also an invaluable tool of the trade and to be an effective in-house counsel one needs to be able to balance tasks and justify to a broader audience how a decision was reached. “I think you need a certain personality to enjoy this work – people who manage administrative tasks well, people who are prepared to learn from others and people who are not afraid of having their views challenged.” “Ego” she asserts, without mincing words, “is not necessarily a good thing here.”