Aurizon Legal Counsel
Fourth, as Advocate General, it is important to have a seat at the executive table and to participate in all major decision-making forums. It is also important that the legal team is also represented in the forums of the respective management team of the business unit. It allows an in-depth knowledge of commercial and operational issues, so that our advice is more personalized and practical in all circumstances. To learn more about us and our corporate values, visit www.aurizon.com.au/careers head of Legal and Group General Counsel | Aurizon Holdings There are probably four topics that are really important to ensure that they are present when structuring an in-house legal team. For the past eight years, David Wenck has been Head of Group Legal Affairs and General Counsel at Aurizon Holdings, leading a powerful in-house legal team of 15 lawyers. As a labour and safety lawyer, you will work closely with other lawyers and paralegals to provide commercial legal advice that primarily addresses employment issues, but also a wider range of practice areas, including procurement, decarbonisation, business and many others. The successful candidate will be motivated and interested in the diversity and pace of internal practice and will have the experience to identify and resolve potential legal and regulatory issues with Aurizon. After all this, we are looking for lawyers who have been trained first class for at least two to three years. High-quality supervision and exposure to high-quality work make a big difference for lawyers moving in-house. We are also looking for lawyers who can assert themselves if necessary and who are commercial and solution-oriented. Finally, I often find that younger or less experienced lawyers tend to focus too quickly on the legal issues at stake without first seeing the bigger picture.
We are looking for lawyers who are first interested in the broader topic before trying to identify legal problems and solutions. All strategic business decisions affect the law in one way or another. During my 10 years of business practice, legal issues are often the most important consideration in many of the strategic initiatives the company pursues. It is therefore crucial for the company to understand and consider legal constraints or opportunities very early in strategic initiatives. Another really important benefit that stems from the early and ongoing involvement of the in-house legal department is to identify relevant stakeholders and their potential impact on the issue in question. These stakeholders are almost always the same groups for all topics: regulators, customers, competitors and governments. In most cases, the legal department will have an overview of the impact these stakeholders can have. First of all, it`s about maintaining a certain degree of independence from the company you`re advising.
This translates into such a large amount, but most importantly, the ability to provide our clients with legal services in the same way as an outside lawyer and to receive all the benefits that result from this independence, in particular the claims of attorney-client privilege in relation to the advice that the internal team provides to our clients. The technological advances that will probably have the biggest impact on us will be the use of AI for lower-level tasks. The more we can relieve our internal team of low-value administrative tasks, the more time they can devote to complex and strategically important issues for the company. This will lead to a redesign of in-house lawyer skills with less reliance on external law firms. There has never been a better time to join Aurizon – our ongoing new business, our intergovernmental acquisitions, means we are now nationally and growing. Third, for small teams like ours, where we have about ten lawyers providing services in six different business areas, we also felt it was essential that the team be able to work flexibly in all areas of the business when demand requires it. We do not have the luxury of permanently aligning our lawyers on a single business unit, which necessarily requires a team with versatile skills and expertise. Call for Applications: 26 Sep 2022 E.
Australia Standard Time Application Deadline: 10 Oct 2022 E. Australia Standard Time As a lawyer focused on employment and security, you will: Recruiting the right people is critical to the overall success of the team and its performance. It`s also one of the hardest things you can do properly. In our experience, our most successful recruitment is due to the recruitment of people we worked with when we were working in private practice, or through the recommendations of our law firms with whom they worked. Our other area of successful recruitment came from secondments who decided to stay with us instead of returning to the company. In short, where you can “try before you buy” will almost always help with the right recruitment decision. We aim for a diverse, collaborative, creative and powerful culture that celebrates the contribution of every employee and provides opportunities for career development in a dynamic work environment. The sale of Aurizon`s intermodal activities to Linfox; Acacia Ridge Rail Terminal at Pacific National and its rail grinding business at Loram. Proceedings before the Federal Court against the ACCC concerning the authorization to merge Acacia Ridge with PN; Litigation before the Supreme Court over the Wiggins Island rail project; and litigation before the Supreme Court against the QCA and its President. Completion of UT5 access obligations for Aurizon Network.
Second, access to high-quality, cost-effective litigants is important. The increasing activity and involvement of regulators is putting considerable pressure on the availability of lawyers with experience in quality processes, both at the corporate level and within the bar. Most of our large litigations involve complex issues, and once the conflicts have been handled, there is a small group of practitioners available to choose from. Second, it`s important to integrate team members into client teams, or at least align your lawyers` expertise with the needs of the company they`re advising. From a quantitative perspective, we use financial and operational performance KPIs to measure value. Our panel companies report on this every month. This includes things like billing accuracy, managing fee estimates, and their timelines for tasks. Qualitatively, we assess the business focus on our business, skills and expertise; Immediate availability for support; Quality of secondments, speed in handling conflicts, interpersonal relations with the Board of Directors and the Board of Directors (for example, the trust that external partners create in the Board of Directors and the Board). Contact us today for a confidential conversation about your next career step.
Aurizon is Australia`s largest rail freight operator and one of the top 100 ASX companies. Every year, we transport more than 250 million tonnes of Australian raw materials and connect miners, primary producers and industry to international and domestic markets. At Aurizon, we support the development and growth of our employees to reach their full potential. With a national portfolio of activities, we offer a diverse and inclusive environment with long-term and exciting career opportunities. Our advantages include: First, the technology and willingness of our panelists to provide innovative technological solutions to the many challenges faced by internal teams. This is something I see as a real differentiator between law firms. Bachelor of Laws (Hons.), Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (UTS), MAICD Finally, we find that litigation is increasingly being used to proactively shape a business outcome that has always been the case in the past. For example, we see companies resorting to legal proceedings as the preferred court to obtain regulatory approvals when there is a sense that litigation leads to a safer outcome than other non-contentious regulatory processes.
Competition law and merger clearance are a good example. David holds a Bachelor of Laws with distinction and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. David Wenck was appointed secretary of the company in April 2021. He joined Aurizon in 2010 as Group General Counsel and has over 20 years of experience in corporate and commercial law. Prior to joining Aurizon, David was a partner in a leading Australian law firm working in the areas of corporate, commercial and competition law. Aurizon is looking for expressions of interest for a suitably qualified lawyer to join our legal team.