GC Spotlight: Maria Marinelli explores the evolving role of legal leadership.

Featured in our GC Spotlight Series this month is Maria Marinelli. Maria was appointed Bupa Australia and New Zealand’s General Counsel in July 2020.

Prior to joining Bupa, Maria practised as a partner at global law firm Ashurst specialising in IT and telecommunications law with significant experience advising on major and complex contracting arrangements across the telecommunications, information technology, media, banking, gaming, health and energy sectors. Maria has been consistently recognised as a leading lawyer by her peers and clients in industry publications for her areas of legal expertise and business acumen. Maria has a keen interest in how health and technology can intersect, as well as transforming businesses for growth in disruptive times.

Maria has a Bachelor of Law (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Political Science) from the University of Melbourne.

1. Hi Maria, can you tell us a little about your role and journey into law? What excites you outside of work? 

I have the responsibility and privilege of being the General Counsel of Bupa APAC and a member of our Executive team.  The businesses that comprise Bupa APAC are varied, which makes my job extremely interesting – there is never a dull day as every business and jurisdiction is different with its own unique challenges.  I have worked at Bupa for over 10 years now yet every day I’m still learning something new which I love.  Before I joined Bupa, I was a partner in a global firm (Ashurst) specialising in IT&T.  It’s been great to marry my technology and data law experience with the law and business of the provision and funding of health services at Bupa.  The intersection between health and technology has over time become even more pronounced especially the use of data and AI to help improve health care.  I’m also extremely proud to work for a company that exists because of, and truly lives, its purpose of “helping people living a longer, healthier, happier life and making a better world.”

2. As a GC, what are some of the challenges that keep you up at night? How are you addressing them? 

I try not to let any work challenges keep me up at night.  If something is troubling me, I like to literally sleep on it.  It’s amazing how a good night’s sleep not mulling over something can help provide you with clarity and a sensible solution the next morning.  Every legal problem is surmountable or manageable even if it means copping the occasional loss and managing through discomfort – the key thing is the way in which you tackle it and/or recover from it whilst always seeking to put the customer first.

3. What do you think about the use of LegalTech, data analytics and process optimisation to improve your legal department's value? 

 I am a big believer and advocate of the use of all of those and have been actively trialling and implementing initiatives in these areas during my five years as GC.  My amazing legal team has done fantastic things in this space – developed over 40 bots, automated processes and contracts, developed our own AI tools and we still have more we want to do. I’m so proud of my team for enthusiastically embracing this and trying various things – it’s ok to fail, just keep learning and trialling new things.  We owe it to ourselves, our customers and our profession to always be looking for better and more efficient ways of doing things in the legal space and for me as a leader of a legal function, it is a non-negotiable – you either do it or you go somewhere else where things continue to be done the old-fashioned way.” Being an active innovator is mandatory for my team. 

4. What trends do you expect to see in the legal services industry in the next 5 years? 

Definitely greater use of AI, automation and legal technology to make the provision of legal advice and services, management of legal functions and data analytics more sophisticated and efficient.  I also think compliance with laws will become more challenging and complex as regulatory reform and complexity increases over the years in a multitude of areas impacting all aspects of running a business.  Whether you are an established corporate having to deal with ageing and less flexible systems and processes or a startup without the funds or resources to easily implement compliant systems and processes, it will be a challenge especially when there is a war for talent with the right capability to help manage these challenges.

5. Your favourite tune? And why? 

Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order.  It’s just fun 80s English electronica.  The lyrics are unimportant – it’s all about the synth and feel of the melody.