Israel Desks - February 2020 Edition

37 Menachem (Meni) Neeman Israel Desks Magazine: What drew you to work in-house and to the insurance sector? Meni: “Happily, my career so far has been very diverse. I worked as an intern at the Supreme Court during President Aharon Barak’s term, worked as an attorney and partner in one of Israel’s leading law firms, worked overseas in one of the leading U.S. law firms, served as legal counsel to a promising Israeli start-up, Better Place, and about five years ago I began serving as General Counsel of the Phoenix Group. Phoenix is one of Israel’s largest insurance groups, managing over NIS 200 billion. The Group’s activities are very diverse and include all areas of insurance and investments, complex litigation and ongoing dealings with various regulatory bodies. The tendency today is for firms is to specialize in a particular practice area; however, I think that one of the nice things about the profession is the diversity and wide array of subjects and so I prefer a diverse legal role that is much more connected to the business and practical side.” Israel Desks Magazine: What is the biggest thrill for you as a GC and what's the biggest challenge? Meni: “Legal counsel for a large company is interdisciplinary and very challenging. I personally really enjoy the diversity. Legal counsel has a dual role in the company. On the one hand, legal counsel is part of the company’s business and should enable the company to operate and beat its competitors in a highly complex and regulatory competitive environment. On the other hand, legal counsel is the gatekeeper of the company and must ensure that the company adheres to the law. The tension between these two roles is complex and also creates the great challenge of providing good legal counsel that allows the company the flexibility to operate while reducing its exposure. My big concern is that we missed something, due to the constant pressure.” Israel Desks Magazine: What types of work do you outsource? What do you look for and value mostly from outside legal counsel? Meni: “We usually outsource litigation and transaction work. You have to understand that an insurance group is a litigation and transaction factory. For example, there are approximately 50 open class action cases against the company, and at any given moment, over ten large scale non-negotiable transactions.We try to handlematters of corporate governance, regulations, labor law and procurement law in-house.”