Phil Leung, Head of Legal at Bitget Wallet in Hong Kong, reflects on his journey into in-house leadership and how building trust, embracing technology, and fostering adaptability are shaping the next generation of legal teams.
What has been the most defining moment of your career as an in-house lawyer so far?
Moving in-house at 5-6 PQE was the most defining moment. After working in law firms across England, Singapore, and Hong Kong, an insurance client asked me to join them in-house to continue managing their matters and build a new APAC legal team.
It was a big decision because I had just been made an offer to move to a global law firm with the partners I had worked closely with for 3 years. Ultimately, I chose the in-house path.
What confirmed it was the right decision came in my final week of private practice. A counterparty I was litigating against called me to ask if I would personally act for them on a new dispute. I couldn’t take the case, but that moment was meaningful – it told me that I had built a level of trust and reputation with both clients and counterparties.
This gave me the confidence to fully commit to the in-house transition. It shaped how I’ve approached every role since, leading with trust, building confidence, and delivering results.
In what ways do you see the role of the GC changing over the next 5–10 years?
The GC role will continue to expand significantly. We’re already seeing GCs joining executive boards and leading functions well beyond legal, such as compliance, public policy, licensing, internal controls, and operations.
Over the next 5-10 years, I see two key shifts: First, technology leadership. GCs who can strategically implement AI and automation will transform how legal teams operate, enabling focus on higher-priority strategic work. Second, continued business integration. GCs will be expected not just to advise on business decisions but to proactively shape strategy, which makes the role a natural pathway to broader executive leadership.
That is why I’ve focused on building capabilities beyond traditional legal expertise to strengthen my experience in technology adoption, operational leadership, and cross-functional collaboration.
How do you foster innovation and agility within your legal team?
I focus on three things: culture, clarity, and empowerment.
On culture, I create an environment where teammates take ownership and feel safe proposing new approaches. For example, I championed the adoption of AI, automations, and self-service processes. This has resulted in 20% of all commercial contracts now being self-serviced by the business, which enables our team to focus on high-priority work.
On clarity, I established SOPs on key workstreams so the team knows when they can move fast independently and when to escalate – particularly on high-risk or high-value matters. This removes hesitation and speeds up decision-making.
On empowerment, I invest in psychological safety, so people have the confidence to experiment and adapt quickly. In practice, we’ve changed workflow distributions, redesigned processes, and challenged inherited ways of working.
Together, these create a team that’s both innovative and agile, enabling us to move quickly while collectively focusing on key priorities. Not everything is perfect, but we learn quickly and readjust together.
