In-house & ESG Counsel
Job Description
Use your legal and commercial skills in this bespoke law firm and consultancy business, operating at the cutting edge of the evolving ESG and CSG in A
- Be at the cutting edge of CSG in Australia
- Toss out your time sheet and be valued for your contribution
- Develop your legal and commercial skills
About Us
Hikari Solutions is a bespoke consultancy and law firm that exists to ensure companies are positioned to act responsibly. We believe ‘Better is Possible’ in all aspects of corporate social responsibility.
About the Role
What won’t be involved? Our promises to you.
Boxes. We believe that the model of a separate set of specialists and a completely separate lawyer advising business is outdated and not what the client needs. The client needs a solution that doesn’t send them running around in circles checking expert against expert for complex problems. It’s also not something talented people who’ve spent years in formal education enjoy – being put in a box and never being allowed to be creative, develop business or get out of that box they’ve found themselves in. We all have other education, skills and interests and this is what makes our company great. We will use them all.
Promise #1: We will use all your skills in the furtherance of making you happy and delivering an integrated service to our clients. If this means that you offer legal advice and also develop into a sustainability professional, wonderful. If it means you have keen business acumen and can translate legal issues into the business context and help clients apply them, even better. Speak a fluent language that is handy to us? Let’s look at the strategy and see how we could use that skill. What you will not be at Hikari Solutions is put in a box. You will learn continuously and become a really great all-round advisor who is appreciated and trusted by your clients.
Billable Hours. We believe that there are great people with great skills practising law but the accountability framework they are forced into is outdated and does not serve anyone. It frankly causes depression in lawyers and a sense of hopelessness – questions of ‘is this what I signed up for and what I did all that study for’ come to mind. Why would a sane business owner get an incredibly talented and educated person and incentivise them to take as long as possible on a task to hit billable targets, but then disincentivise them to spend time on building relationships with clients and building the business? Why would you then have to either write off significant billables OR bill clients who then become disenfranchised, who run from engaging lawyers again?
Promise#2: We must make sure that you pay your way and contribute to the firm, of course. You will have financial targets that make sure all of that is covered, but this will be truly balanced with the value you bring which isn’t measured in revenue alone. We take it as a given that if you’ve had the wherewithal to get through what it takes to get to the level you are at now, you are a naturally driven person. Why break you? It doesn’t make sense if you can help build the business to put a disincentive in place and work you into the ground so you feel like you can’t get our clients to come back or that you don’t feel rested. 82% of our clients have engaged us for more than one service in the last 12 months and many progress to retainers. We want to keep it that way. Because happy lawyers = happy clients = happy lawyers and satisfaction all around generates loyalty and a net promoter score through the roof. We’re getting all Richard Branson on the law firm model.
Making Equity. How does this sound, bill 6.5 hours per day, every single day, sick days excluded (you have to make those up) for say 15 years to progress up the ranks, hate your life and then by the time you’re in your late 40s be offered to mortgage your house to buy into the firm with no power and make equity partner? Then you need to outlive and out bill everyone else (not to mention outwit in an awesome Game of Thrones-esque series of tactical manoeuvres) so that you get more equity points and hope the firm doesn’t decline or a huge section walk away with valuable revenue (aka what has just happened at PWC) all for a broken marriage, family that doesn’t know you and money? Feel like playing an endless game of Survivor for your entire career? Why wouldn’t we incentivise you to do the right thing to grow and develop the business because you own a slice of it and get paid a dividend?
Promise #3: From mid-2025 we will be structured so as to offer an Employee Share Ownership Plan. We’ve done it for one of our major clients, and just need to change our structure to make it happen here. This means you will have the opportunity to earn shares in our company for your performance and buy into it if you wish. We will have a fair valuation process so that you can sell your shares back to us. The perfect blend – not trapped, receive franked dividends, and incentivised to do what is right. We also think that means you will go to great lengths to make our clients happy. This perpetuates repeat business….and the cycle continues.
What is the position?
This is a position that operates as an integral part of the business supporting the Managing Director and Chief Legal Counsel, who is also a seasoned management professional and sustainability consultant. Some of the key things you will be working on include:
- Working as Assistant General Counsel to an increasing number of clients who on retainer require varied legal and commercial advice;
- Providing practically implementable advice on sustainability related legislation including:
- Illegal Logging Prohibition Act
- Modern Slavery Act
- Taskforce for Financial Related Sustainability Disclosures
- Australian Packaging Covenant
- Human rights, employment relations and safety
AND anything else that is in our wheelhouse that becomes important to our clients that we feel we can offer. Hikari Solutions relies on the position to deliver service in association with its promise – we help companies to find the light, make the change and to do it fast.
Required Personal Attributes
What sort of attributes do you need to succeed and grow in this role?
Firstly, you have a hunger for knowledge. You are driven, centred, shine a light in your attitude and feel comfortable in learning by doing. You’re able to learn from mistakes and can think around problems. You’re a ‘start-up’ type of person, ready to muck in and help build confidence in yourself and the business.
We are seeking somebody who has a passion for sustainability and who is wanting to make a difference in the world. You will grow the business offering integrated solutions. You’re not someone who wants to hide behind a computer screen and pump out advice after advice, you relish in teaching people what you know, helping to explain the complex and engender trust with your clients. You know you want a strong reputation in delivering something that matters – and know that the best way to change the world is from the inside of companies. NGOs have their place, but you know that it is better to be in the tent than outside it if you want to drive change in people, planet and business processes.
Finally, we are different. You subscribe to that mindset and celebrate it with your whole being. You want to get in on the ground floor and help build something you will have a stake in and be proud of what you do. You want to be able to explain to your kids that you’re part of the solution and wear those socks that say ‘smartest person in the room’ proudly.
Responsibilities
You will be involved in various aspects of commercial, legal and sustainability advice and assistance, as well as doing whatever it takes to keep this small business running. If the bins need emptying, empty them. If the website needs updating or blogs and training need to be developed, this also is something you will be asked to do.
In all of these areas, legal advice is the foundation. The types of work that you may be asked to contribute to will include but are not limited to:
- Supply chain evaluation and certification
- Modern Slavery and Illegal Logging due diligence and reporting
- Commercial advice
- Contracts
- Employment
- Investigations
- Policies
- Trademarks
- Business merger and restructuring
- International environmental and CSR law
Location
Our office is based in Essendon with free parking out the front and easy access to Essendon Station. We are creating a team and we feel it is important for you to be present and be part of it, especially when learning the ropes. If and when you’re more experienced, we can talk about allowing a blended attendance model, but our primary goals are to build a close-knit team and to train you up as quickly as possible. So, all of this is up for discussion and totally dependent on what you are bringing to the table.
Flexibility
This is either a full time or part time position and the hours of work will depend on the availability of work and your availability to conduct the work. We don’t mind if you’re at the lower end of the experience band and want to work full time, or if you’re above the upper band and would like flexible hourly rates and working engagements to suit school hours work for example. It is all up for negotiation.
Productive Time – KPI
It is expected that at least 80% of the hours you work are to be billable to a client and entered into Minute Dock. The remaining 20% of your time will be utilised on the following authorised activities to be agreed:
- Writing blogs, articles, opinion pieces, presentations, brochures, pages for the website or other documents to generate business
- Generating business, attending conferences or other sessions within agreed parameters
- Conducting essential training
The time billed on your timesheets for work vs the time billable to clients or for non-productive work will be measured and reported on. You must always ensure that you are completing tasks as efficiently as possible.
Start-Up Mentality, Group Responsibility
What goes along with working in a small team is the sense of accountability to one another. Absences need to (wherever possible) be planned well in advance and ensure that important clients or projects are covered by others. The usual times of the year which are quiet are over the Christmas and Easter breaks. Our office will ordinarily shut down for a period of 3 – 4 weeks over Christmas to give our team a much-needed break, and often for the period between Easter and Anzac Day, if that aligns favourably.
To be considered for this role email your CV in confidence to [email protected] or call Paul Burgess on 03 8676 0372 if you have any further questions
