Post Pandemic Corporate Lawyers in the New Normal

Jeffery Tan, Group General Counsel, Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited

The recent months of pandemic lockdown has made us all familiar with seeing ourselves, family, friends and business contacts contained within ‘boxes’ that are now found in the ubiquitous virtual meeting platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. As we transition to the post pandemic’s new normal, we are all challenged to respond creatively and innovatively to this changed paradigm. Lawyers are no exception. We will need to go beyond the ‘box’ of being just mere lawyers in the post-Covid world. In a recent study conducted by Gartner Inc, less than 10% of general counsels (GCs) play an executive role in their companies. In a separate poll initiated by Gartner, which is a NYSE-listed research and advisory firm, it was found that only 8% of GCs embraced the role of a corporate executive that went beyond their legal role, even though 46% claimed that it was their ideal role. More than half of the GCs polled (59%) indicated that they only served as lead attorneys for the corporations they work for, focusing on legal issues and related tactical work.

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Singapore Management General August 2020 Vol.13, No. 52, Summer 2020

Jeffery Tan

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Jeffery is the Group General Counsel; Director, Group Corporate Affairs; and Group Company Secretary of Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd. He is responsible for legal, compliance, company secretarial, communications and public affairs at the Group level. Before joining Jardine Cycle & Carriage, he was the Group General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Board Secretary for UTAC Holdings Ltd. Prior to that, he has over 20 years of private practice and in-house legal experience with international law firms and multinational companies such as Allen & Gledhill, DLA Piper, Siemens and Motorola. He also served in a business capacity as President of Motorola Singapore for five years. Jeffery has an LLB (HONS) from the National University of Singapore. He is a senior Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore and a Solicitor of England & Wales. He has completed the Senior Executive Management Program, at Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management and the Driving Strategic Innovation Program at MIT Sloan School of Management. Jeffery serves on the board of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited

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Jardine Cycle and Carriage Limited is a leading Singapore listed diversified conglomerate and a member of the Jardine Matheson Group. With a market cap of US$13.9 Billion, it is a component stock of the bell weather FTSE Straits Times Index which employs over 250,000 people across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. JC&C has a strategic interest in Astra International, the largest independent automotive group in Southeast Asia. Astra International has further interests in financial services, heavy equipment, mining, construction & energy, agribusiness, infrastructure & logistics, information technology and property.

Singapore Management General August 2020 Vol.13, No. 52, Summer 2020

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