GC Spotlight: Paul Chow, General Counsel at Cathay Pacific.

We’ve been speaking to our customers from different industries to get some insight on how they’re navigating their legal departments during tough times.

As we all know, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the aviation industry and it's been a very tough year for most airlines. So we were intrigued to see how our customers in the aviation industry were doing. We reached out to Paul Chow, Group General Counsel at Cathay Pacific, one of the world's top airline, to tell us about the challenges he has encountered in the last few months and his key priorities for this year. Let's get right into it - 

1. What have been your biggest challenges over the last few months?

   Remaining positive with the outlook notwithstanding the impact which COVID has brought onto the aviation industry.

2. What are your key priorities – as the Group GC of Cathay Pacific - for the next year?

   Supporting the business in its recovery so that we can continue to service our customers in the best way we can.

3. Has your role in your organisation changed / is it changing? If so, in what way?

   Yes in that increasingly as a sounding board for ideas.

4. What are your thoughts on, or experiences with, legal technology and how do you envisage it changing the way you work?

   Most of the work we do is very situation specific and not commoditized and so, whilst we are open to legal technology, we do not find it particularly important to us at this stage

6. Do you employ performance metrics and/or think about the use of data relating to your legal department? If not, would you consider doing so in the future?

   Extremely important – but there is a cost in getting that data and so it is important to prioritize in obtaining the most relevant data

7. Are there any specific changes, developments or trends that you expect (or hope) to see in the aviation industry?

   Increased specialization and efficient use of data