Congratulations to our Legal Director Lee Kher Huan for being featured on The Legal 500 GC Powerlist Malaysia 2023! Read her interview with GC powerlist below

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In September 2022, Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE) closed our third fund at a hard cap of US$650m, less than six months after launching the fund. With the closing of the new fund, Dymon Asia Private Equity now manages US$1.3bn across its three funds.

Our legal team had been instrumental in the fundraising process, overseeing all legal workflows from start to finish, including drafting and reviewing fund offering documents, due diligence questionnaires, fund documentation and investor side letters. They were closely involved in the investor onboarding process, as well as managing the regulatory and compliance aspects of fundraising execution. With the joint efforts of the DAPE team, the fundraising process was completed in a short period of time. The legal team demonstrated our ability to work effectively with and manage different stakeholders across the organisation as well as external investors and advisors, which are critical skills for the success of a process as complex as fundraising.

In addition to the fundraising workflow, the legal team continued to rapidly execute its day-to-day responsibilities as in-house counsel of a private equity fund, with an equal focus on legal negotiation and documentation review for six investments and three exits undertaken by DAPE in 2022. By being closely involved in the process alongside the investment team, the legal team ensured the implementation of the most favourable deal and legal terms across these investments and exits.

DAPE’s legal team had an outstanding 2022, demonstrating the team’s ability to work under extremely compressed timelines, as well as the team’s strength in multi-tasking across markedly different areas of focus.

What are some of your main tips for dealing with a crisis?

It is important to learn how to prioritise and be patient; if there are problems of varying degrees of importance and urgency, which always happen in the event of a crisis, always focus on solving the most important issues, as opposed to urgent matters, which may or may not have any significant relation to the crisis. Hard work is required to get through a crisis situation, so do it methodically and patiently.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

With the rapid advancement of technology, non-analytical work will increasingly be taken over by software / AI. With that said, I believe corporate legal teams need to distinguish themselves from this technology through value-adding skills that can be complemented but not completely replaced by software / AI. It is therefore essential that the corporate legal team can understand the commercial ‘big picture’ at any time and has the ability to make judgment calls when required, these are skills and experiences difficult to replace with technology.

In-house lawyers can achieve this by engaging and having open conversations with different stakeholders across the organisation; this is the key to understanding the needs and intricacies of the organisation, which may not be meaningfully grasped or processed by software or AI. Armed with such knowledge, the in-house legal team can rely on technology to perform the low-value tasks, therefore focusing on critical thinking and making judgment calls to achieve success in the organisation.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

I am a firm believer that effective communication builds strong relationships. Being attentive to the needs of business partners will help bridge any differences and make common ground easier to achieve. A good lawyer does not necessarily need to be confrontational or abrasive to win a negotiation. Being a good listener, being empathetic and trying to be in your business partner’s shoes are all effective tools to achieve any desired outcome.

Full Interview HERE