Kelly Baxter-Rae, General Counsel at Indevin, on risk, legal leadership and enabling growth.
We had the privilege of chatting to Kelly Baxter-Rae, General Counsel at Indevin, who stepped into the role months ago with a clear mandate: contribute beyond purely legal advice and operate at a strategic and commercial level.
For Kelly, the legal function is fundamentally an enabler of business growth. She shares reflections on balancing risk and entrepreneurial agility, building relationships early, and leading strategically from day one.
What attracted you to the General Counsel role at Indevin, and what are you enjoying most so far?
I was initially drawn to the fact that Indevin was seeking a General Counsel to contribute at a strategic and commercial level, beyond purely legal. As I progressed through the recruitment process, it became clear that there’s a genuine opportunity to get stuck-in and add value beyond the strict remit.
Now as part of the Indevin team, I’m loving learning a new industry, adapting to different working styles and leaning into the business’ growth mindset.
What are your top priorities for the legal function, and how do you balance risk management with supporting business growth?
Indevin has grown significantly over the past 23 years and started as a disruptor, meaning there’s a strong culture of agility. From day one it’s been clear to me that there’s a delicate balance to be struck between legal risk management and allowing the business to continue to tap into that entrepreneurial spirit. For me, it’s about ensuring legal risks are fully understood, applying mitigations, and prioritising legal resource on projects which are going to be most impactful to business outcomes.
I’m also a strong believer in a legal function being an enabler of business growth, through using legal skills and strategy to drive competitive advantage. Lawyers are natural strategic thinkers, as we’re trained to digest information and present options, so harnessing those skills to contribute at a commercial and strategic level is another major value driver in my experience.
Can you share a recent challenge or project that made you proud, and what you learned from it?
"Be curious and humble, but also be prepared to speak up." | ||
I’m 5 months into my role with Indevin, and in the very early months, my biggest challenge was not having a fully formed understanding of business context to enable me to make informed decisions about legal risks, priorities and opportunities. I’m still on that journey, but at this point I’m proud of the relationships that I’ve started to develop, which are enabling me to work more collaboratively with non-legal colleagues to add extra value to their projects. My goal is always for my non-legal colleagues to view engaging with Legal not just as a risk mitigation but as an opportunity to improve overall commercial outcomes.
There have been a few recent scenarios where I’ve worked with the team to reframe how we address an issue or opportunity to drive a better resolution – I love that.
How do you build strong relationships between Legal and other teams at Indevin?
I’m lucky to have stepped into leading a legal function that already has great engagement with the Indevin business. In terms of holding that status and building relationships, I think the foundation is having a genuine interest in and respect for the work of other functions and the individuals within them. Fundamentally, Legal is an enabler function and we don’t face the same targets or operational pressures that other sales and delivery functions do. Building relationships with those teams is about working to understand their underlying objectives, so that you can offer up solutions where legal risks or barriers arise. It’s also about knowing when to hold firm on certain positions to ensure that long term risks aren’t sacrificed for short term benefits.
What advice would you offer someone stepping into a General Counsel role for the first time?
Be curious and humble, but also be prepared to speak up, ask questions and share ideas. Whether or not it’s your first time in a senior legal leadership role, you’ve been hired to deliver at that level, which means from day one you need to walk in the big shoes even if you’re still getting used to the fit. For me, as a new starter at Indevin, that has meant being open and humble about my lack of experience in the wine industry and business, while backing my legal expertise and being immediately willing to speak up on matters where I feel I can add a valuable perspective.
Ngā mihi nui to Kelly for sharing her reflections so generously. Her experience captures something many of us will recognise, whether or not we hold leadership roles: leading with humility, backing your expertise, and stepping into big shoes even while you’re still finding your footing.
This article forms part of our In-house legal spotlight series, sharing perspectives from across Aotearoa’s in-house legal community.