Member in the Spotlight: Rachel Launders

Tell us about your current role.

I’m the General Counsel and Company Secretary of Nine Entertainment Co.  Since 7 December 2018, that business includes the Nine Network, Fairfax newspapers (most notably the AFR, The Age, SMH), digital properties associated with those businesses, and the streaming service Stan.   Like many in-house roles, I’m involved in a wide variety of work - our corporate M&A activity, setting up joint ventures like Future Women and Your Money, major sports rights deals such as with Tennis Australia, board interaction and corporate governance matters, and providing support for the rest of the legal team, when they need to bounce something off another person or get guidance on the approach we should be taking on an issue. 

What do you believe is the most important skill an in-house lawyer needs? 

Problem solving skills.  There’s almost always a way to do something which the business wants to do, so being the one who can guide the business to a solution which meets the commercial needs, while taking a sensible approach to risk, is an invaluable role for the in-house lawyer to play. 

What led you to pursue an in-house legal role?

I really enjoy being a part of the business, rather than an adviser to the business.   While I had some great relationships with clients, including Nine, when I was at Gilbert +  Tobin, you simply don’t get the same level of involvement with the business or the same level of exposure to all of the issues and drivers of the business, when you’re an external adviser.  

What advice would you offer to in-house counsel in building relationships with their organisations

Talk to people about what they do and how and why they do it.   I’ve had some great sessions with the Nine legal team, with people from sales, news, strategy and television programming, where they just come along and talk about what they do.  It’s a fantastic way to get to understand different parts of the business and how it all fits together. 

I’d also offer a word of caution about building relationships by saying yes to anything you’re asked to do.  That’s great in the short term as the legal team will be seen as willing and obliging, but not a smart approach in the long term (unless you have limitless resources) as you’ll find yourself doing lots of other people’s admin which is not a great use of lawyer time and can be very difficult to stop doing.  So setting some sensible boundaries is important to having a mutually respectful relationship.  

What is the one thing a law degree doesn’t teach you about being an in-house lawyer?

I don’t think it’s possible for a law degree to teach all the things which experience teaches so it’s hard to pick just one.   There are very few issues which are black and white in the real world- being comfortable operating in the grey, and being able to make decisions which reflect the business’ appetite for risk is a skill that I wasn’t taught in my law degree.   Experience is a  great teacher though.

What are the biggest changes you’ve witnessed across the legal sector since you joined the profession?

At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur, I joined the legal profession at a time when computers were just becoming a common sight on lawyers’ desks, communications were hand delivered or sent by fax or by post and legal research involved going to the library and looking things up in books.  So a huge amount has changed since then across the business community generally.   The speed of communication is a major change - email and smart phones have had a lot to do with that - although I don’t know it means deals are necessarily done more quickly as I think documents have become longer (as it’s so easy just to tweak some words, add another clause, or stick in another few schedules listing things that no-one will ever look at post signing).   The level of competition in the legal sector is also vastly different - the range of off-shoring, outsourcing, New Law, smart technology and other alternative ways of sourcing legal services will keep challenging and changing the legal profession.

Finish these two sentences…

If I wasn’t a lawyer I’d be... a Broadway super star, if complete lack of talent was no obstacle! Singing is such a joy whatever your level of talent, so doing something which let me share joy with others, and get applause, would be fabulous.    

I like being a part of the ACC Australia community because ... it really lives the “by in house, for in house” mantra.  The resources and continuing education offered to members are focussed on what in-house lawyers need.   The community also provides a great mix of people to meet through events - last year’s #morethanalawyer demonstrated the awesome things that ACC Australia members do.