Lisa Haimovitz, Group General Counsel of ICL Group.

LISA HAIMOVITZ IS GLOBAL GENERAL COUNSEL FOR TEL AVIV-BASED ICL. Haimovitz received an LL.B. and MBA from Tel Aviv University. She worked for 14 years with the Israel Securities Authority in different roles, including as special adviser to the chairman and director of the Department of International Affairs. She also worked at the Delek Group.

ICL is involved in fertilizers, chemicals and food, with divisions on essential minerals and specialty solutions. Among its key products are specialty fertilizers, bromine and flame retardants. ICL produces approximately a third of the world's bromine, and is the world's sixth largest potash producer, as well as one of the leading providers of pure phosphoric acid.

ICL employs about 13,000 people worldwide. It is a public company whose shares are dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Haimovitz is in charge of both legal and compliance functions at the company. "My role and main contribution is to recruit the best and most energetic—[with] problem-solving talents as inside counsels and continuously develop them and build horizons," Haimovitz said. "At the same time, I engage the most suitable outside counsel and manage their expenses. I also invest a great deal of time in advancing the electronic tools we utilize to better perform our work and make it more efficient and reliable."

LEGAL TEAM: The company's global legal function is composed of four regions: the Americas, Europe, Israel and China. It is managed by four regional GCs and four inside counsel at the company. Most regional counsel focus on commercial work and some have global responsibilities for competition, intellectual property, corporate, and mergers and acquisitions. The legal team works out of Israel; Amsterdam; Barcelona; St. Louis, Missouri; Brazil; and Shanghai. Haimovitz said cases that she handles include those on corporate, securities, mega-litigations, cross border and major/sensitive issues.

OUTSIDE COUNSEL: "Areas like litigation, environment, safety and regulatory issues are outsourced [as well as] labor in certain jurisdictions," Haimovitz said. "We also outsource on a case-by-case matter—large M&As, labor, competition, capital markets. We engage local and global law firms."

TYPICAL DAY: "Most of my day, as professional counsel, I handle comprehensive problems that need sensitive handling—mega-litigations, corporate governance issues," she said. "As manager, I invest in team development, retaining talent, building horizons and developing efficient working tools, such as electronic billing systems, contract and litigation management systems that create a global view of the company's legal risks. Also, e-signing systems and BoardBooks that allow managers to travel and be online."

She works out of the Tel Aviv headquarters, and sometimes travels to Amsterdam, London, New York, St. Louis and Shanghai. She said there are many things she enjoys about her job. These include "the managerial and intellectual challenges, high-energy environment, personal empowerment, doing the 'impossible,' and being part of a global dynamic management and industrial operation," Haimovitz said.

PERSONAL: She is 52, with two children. She is also a marathon runner. "I train six days a week, wake up at 4:30 and run before work," she said. "I also climb mountains, Kilimanjaro being the last one."

WHAT KEEPS HER UP AT NIGHT: "I manage legal work from North America to China and the reality is that responsibility and accountability force us to work 24/7," she said.

PRIORITIES AS GENERAL COUNSEL: "Team development and bringing high energy, teamwork, long-distance stamina with risk mitigation focus and non-stop added value to the company," Haimovitz said.

ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION: She would like to see women increasingly become "part of crafting the business and setting the tone at the top, rather than facilitating back-office advice—more roles as problem-solvers in tough situations."

THE ROLE OF GC IN THE WIDER ORGANIZATION: "This is very much up to the GC to create this role," she said. "We bring more and more value to problem-solving and cross-borders complexities—execution orientation combined with sensitivity bring us to the front or center of the organizations."