«I felt the need to contact our legal troops,» she says, «so I spontaneously created a small vlog of my homework environment and asked other team members to do the same.» While she may not have shared a private environment that she didn`t even clean up before filming, «it was a great way to connect and send a message explaining how I felt and hoping everyone was okay.» At first, this did not seem to van Oosten Slingeland as an initiative for lawyers. She notes, «As a legal team, we don`t produce anything. But we have a workload to manage. She said: «It`s about using your imagination, being creative and thinking. Within the legal department, there are different disciplines or specializations, and when you put them together, they can form a stronger team. You will be responsible for advising DCM, ECM and CF bankers on legal and documentary issues related to bond issues, IPOs, secondary offers, share buybacks, etc. It`s not just about technology. The key to van Oosten Slingeland`s «future lawyer» concept is also the ability to be flexible and work together. She does not want her lawyers to be too specialized. «I need people who are able and willing to be flexible to protect privacy one day and lend to businesses the next, and that`s important because it creates flexibility of mind and broader legal experience,» she says.

Van Oosten Slingeland uses the term «the troops» to describe their legal teams out of love. «There`s a large population that I really like, and sometimes I feel like their captain, if you will, is sailing in rough waters,» she says. Your colleagues have been very positive in their efforts to make connections and have risen to the challenge. Team Asia created a fully edited video of their entire team, including the music, and 15-20 teams have now taken on the challenge. With 550 employees working in ING`s legal departments worldwide, many were able to see each other for the first time. Working in and between different areas at ING on her way to the position of General Counsel has been very beneficial for van Oosten Slingeland, and she encourages her teams to take this approach. «Each element helps me look at legal issues differently today. And in a better way. That`s also what I want to do, make sure people are flexible enough to deal with new things. The role of the Capital Markets Legal Advisor at ING is to act as a trusted advisor to the firm.

As a team, we are closely involved in supporting the Global Capital Markets team in executing their trades. We are a diverse and international group of 9 enthusiastic lawyers with backgrounds in corporate, securities and/or finance who have previously worked as in-house lawyers or advisors. «As a company, ING uses data to drive processes and predict what will happen,» she explains. «And it`s an interesting idea to bring that to the legal department and ask, can we use technology to predict what`s going to happen in the world that`s relevant to our work, to make sure we can mitigate and manage risk in that way.» We are looking for a candidate with proven experience of 2 to 6 years as a lawyer in a law firm or as an in-house lawyer in a large company or bank. But, she says, her path to legal leadership at ING has been «logical and organic» «because ING is a very large company, with many different parts and disciplines, so you can learn a lot within the company.» As part of the execution of a transaction, Legal will identify and manage legal risks, address cross-border issues to ensure that ING`s legal and regulatory standards are maintained at a high level. In October 2018, ING`s legal function (or «tribe» according to the agile way of working) won the Strategy and Behaviour Change category at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards. At the time, van Oosten Slingeland said: «I am so proud to see Tribe Legal exploring new frontiers in our expedition to an unknown future. This award encourages us to continue our research.

» Review and negotiation of subscription agreements, subscription agreements, legal opinions, letters of intent and other transaction documents. It highlights the use of artificial intelligence for due diligence of documentation in a portfolio or document generators for procurement. And ING`s Turkish team has set up a portal through which all requests go to the legal team. The system ensures that «all stakeholders – stakeholders, clients and legal team – can follow what is happening with the issue.» She is also aware of her role model, especially as a woman, and her power to increase diversity. «I see it as my duty to look at the legal function, but perhaps also outside it, and see if there are talents that I can appreciate, retain and develop. And that`s what I`m going to do – I have the power to do it and make sure my team is encouraged to do it. And that`s very important, because if you don`t start the pipeline, it`s never going to happen. «That still doesn`t mean we`re not affected,» she adds. «If your customers are affected and society is affected, so are we. But I think from a legal point of view, it`s easier to sit in the eye of the storm and see what`s going on around you, and make sure you`re really watching closely what needs to be done and choosing your priorities.

I think we are in much better shape today than in the first round because we learned. At ING, legal teams have been working from home since mid-March, but have tried to stay connected. Van Oosten Slingeland says the initial expectation was that working from home would only be for a few weeks. And the first few weeks, which turned out to be much longer, were even busier than usual, with crisis management and pressing questions surrounding the impact of Covid-19 on their agenda. Vroukje van Oosten Slingeland has been working for the Netherlands-based global financial institution ING for almost 15 years. She talks to In-house Perspective about legal innovation at ING, the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and remote working, and her vision of the lawyer of the future. Many of these new technology-based solutions are the result of «Legal Innovation Bootcamps» at ING. Teams across the legal department are invited to submit ideas on innovation initiatives and go through selection rounds until they reach the top three. They are then invited to present their ideas to a jury composed of van Oosten Slingeland, Head of the Innovation Department, and members of the Board of Directors. The winner`s idea becomes reality.

Van Oosten Slingeland says the training camp brings the world`s teams together in a «very inspiring and rewarding» environment. His work is now very diverse and part of his agenda «is always a surprise», dictated by external factors such as challenges within teams, media attention, politics and regulatory influences.