With more than two decades in the legal profession, Saguna Vaid, the legal and compliance director for Nokia in India, talks to Raj Gunashekar about the importance of learning constantly about changing technologies and products.
How is being an in-house lawyer in Nokia different from that of other companies?
My role from the very beginning has been that of a business enabler, and this is not confined to legal issues only.
As the legal head, I’m a key member of the India leadership team. And one of my major responsibilities is to anchor and facilitate customer deals, in addition to acting as a guardian of our compliance standards and principles.Therefore, I’m both a gatekeeper and a business partner, creating a collaborative and inclusive environment. This integrated approach is critical in the fast-moving and evolving telecom industry.
Another key difference between Nokia and other companies is that the entire legal team, at all levels, constantly interacts with top leadership in an advisory and supporting capacity.
How many lawyers does your team consist of, and how does the structure work as a whole?
In India, Nokia has a small, geographically dispersed legal team of lawyers and contract managers who serve the businesses in a very flat organisation structure.
Over the past two years, we have adopted a more account-driven structure, with each lawyer working on multiple customer accounts, to keep supporting Nokia India’s growth strategy.
At present, our focus is on internalising support and building expertise in-house rather than turning to outside counsel. As such, the India team includes a mix of specialist and generalist lawyers. We work closely with our global counterparts in the Nokia global legal matrix, which consist of general counsels for five business groups and client teams as well as subject matter experts who focus on several issues, including compliance, labour and regulatory. Not only does this provide us with in-house expertise, but it also gives us access to an international community and an opportunity to work on global legal projects.
How would you describe your strategy for the legal team?
Nokia is a very different company today compared to when I joined two years ago, with a renewed focus on networks, data and technology that connect people. It has also undergone huge expansion through its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.
Globally, the legal department has changed to meet new demands, using a model that has is built on internal support and avoids the unnecessary use of external counsel.
A fundamental aspect of executing this model is continuous updating of legal skills as well as knowledge of Nokia’s technologies and products, and the company provides regular training to ensure this. This also calls for a willingness to learn and change – a key expectation from an in-house lawyer with Nokia.
The strategy for the India team is aligned with this approach, equipping lawyers leadership skills as well as encouraging them to work outside their comfort zone and be business partners. These two aspects ensure the business is well supported, and that there is a shared responsibility in addressing legal issues. We are also working on fostering the kind of culture that allows lawyers to respectfully challenge the business's decision-making as and when needed.
