Brand & New

Defining the Legal Leadership of Tomorrow: Vision of a General Counsel (with Aurélien Hamelle, General Counsel, Total)

March 16, 2020 INTA Season 2 Episode 15
Brand & New
Defining the Legal Leadership of Tomorrow: Vision of a General Counsel (with Aurélien Hamelle, General Counsel, Total)
Show Notes

General Counsel no longer are limited to a reactive role overseeing legal operations farmed out to law firms, but instead are key members of the corporate decision-making team. This is a major shift that has occurred  over the past decades: General Counsel are leaders, innovators, decision makers at the highest levels, far beyond being technicians in the law.  They also have to be agile, in an ever-evolving environment. 

Let’s take technology as an example. Tech has “invaded” legal practice over the last decade. From sophisticated legal analytics technologies in e-discovery tools or prior rights search software, to “smart contract” protocols to facilitate negotiations, mobile collaborative platforms, or even high-end IT security features aimed at protecting files integrity, lawyering does not look quite like it did 20 years ago!

This is part of the discussion  in this episode with Aurélien Hamelle, Group General Counsel of Total, Paris, France. The French multinational energy company is one of the six supermajor oil companies in the world, with an adjusted net income at US $11.8 billion in 2019, around 100,000 employees, and active in more than 130 countries. Since 2016, Mr. Hamelle has overseen   a team of around 500 lawyers at Total, including an important intellectual property department. Previously, he was a regulatory and dispute resolution lawyer with various firms, including being a partner at both Metzner Associés and Allen & Overy. He will share with us his vision on what the legal leadership of tomorrow means, in terms of relevant skills—from openness to innovation to new perspectives on performance and knowledge management.

Every two weeks, on Tuesday, Brand & New gives the floor to inspiring individuals, with a 360-degree vision, to help brand owners, intellectual property lawyers, and marketing and finance professionals (and beyond!) stay curious and agile in an ever-evolving business environment.

Brand & New is a production of the International Trademark Association
Hosted by Audrey Dauvet - Contribution of M. Halle & S. Lagedamond - Music by JD Beats

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT INTA.ORG

To go further:
About Aurélien Hamelle (link to https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurelien-hamelle-5775271/?locale=fr_FR)

Also of interest:
- Harvard Law Today—In the Driver’s Seat: The changing role of the general counsel
(link to https://today.law.harvard.edu/feature/in-the-drivers-seat-the-changing-role-of-the-general-counsel/)
- INTA Daily News: What Brands Want in a Shifting Legal Services Landscape (link to https://www.inta.org/PDF%20Library/2019Daily/2019DailyNews_Day4.pdf)
- International Trademark Association’s “The Women’s LeadershIP Initiative”  (link to https://www.inta.org/Press/Pages/The_Womens_LeadershIP_Initiative_0320.aspx)
- Deloitte: The legal department of the future- (link to https://www2.d