Pongan Legal Philosophy
Pongan Legal was borne from a vision of maximizing positive social impact by helping small to medium sized businesses grow in an ethical, sustainable and risk-aware manner, locally within Australia and extending broader into Asia Pacific.
By starting small, there is an ideal opportunity to build strong foundations and from there, continuously improve how businesses provide services to a broader community, and create a stronger and better society.
Internationally, there is a gap in the legal services industry that fails to meet client needs where:
(a) there is insufficient day-to-day work to warrant hiring a full legal department;
(b) the cost of engaging a traditional law firm is expensive and likely to threaten the viability of the business;
(c) the risk appetite of law firms is typically risk averse and may not necessarily be positioned to understand internal business needs; and
(d) boutique law firms may not always offer the breadth of services that a business client needs as they will specialize in specific areas.
Finding the right fit can be difficult for clients. As a result, Pongan Legal aims to bridge this gap for SME, technology and B2B industries by offering broad-ranging one-stop-shop legal services that businesses in these sectors will need, either internally or through its network of similarly placed lawyers.
Meet Haylen
Haylen Ann Pong is the Principal of Pongan Legal, providing support for a variety of commercial, corporate, privacy and employment matters.
Her career has included substantial in-house experience within ASX-listed companies that operated in multiple jurisdictions. She has also led a team of lawyers looking after the Asia Pacific region at an internationally leading governance, risk and compliance company.
Haylen’s particular focus is on legal issues affecting the Asia Pacific region.
Her work covers cross-border contracting, internal restructuring, employment, privacy, and advising Board of Directors and leading cross-functional teams in driving cybersecurity improvements and building proper risk management processes.
Haylen is a multiple award-winning lawyer, who has received recognition from previous employers by way of internal awards as well as a variety of legal industry awards, including:
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2017 Association of Corporate Counsel – Small Legal Team of the Year;
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2017 Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 – Corporate Counsel;
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2018 Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 – Corporate Counsel;
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2019 Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 – Corporate Counsel;
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2019 The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist - Australia Rising Stars;
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2023 The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist - Australia Rising Stars.
Haylen also serves as Vice Chair on the Inter-Pacific Bar Association’s Legal Development and Training Committee.
She graduated from Macquarie University with BCom/LLB (Hons) and furthered her studies at College of Law with LLM.
Why Pongan Legal?
1. Commercially minded – Businesses do not grow without taking risk and decisions are not always made purely on legal factors. We have the commercial acumen and ability to balance commercial objectives with legal risks, to help businesses increase compliance without sacrificing commercial outcomes.
2. Cost effective – Your legal workload might not justify the cost of a full-time senior legal employee, and a junior lawyer will not have the experience to independently achieve satisfactory results. By engaging Pongan Legal only when you need help, you have the benefit of: (a) a flexible, cost-effective work schedule; (b) a senior commercial lawyer’s experience and expertise; and (c) a legal partner who will continually develop a deeper understanding of your business over time and gain efficiencies across each matter you need help with.
3. Timely advice - Pongan Legal is agile, capable of turning around all work promptly and efficiently, saving you time from stress and always keeping your projects moving forward. Initial responses will always be provided within a business day with clear notification on when work deliverables can be provided.
4. A long-term relationship – we are your long-term, external in-house counsel who are also your business partners, providing personalised attention to understand your strategy and objectives, and effectively communicate the types of risks involved with decision-making. We can also train your staff to empower them to fulfil their roles more competently, which could impact revenue growth and risk reduction.
5. Experienced with in-house teams – We understand internal legal functions and how to work with in-house teams. If you are under-resourced or your legal team is suddenly facing busy periods, we can assist with overflow work in a seamless manner.