For some, destiny is unavoidable. Just ask Rod Bordignon, whose earliest memory in private practice is working on the float of Woolworths soon after joining the firm previously known as Norton Smith & Co. “It was one of the first matters I worked on,” says Bordignon. Fast forward to today and Bordignon is now head of the corporate and commercial legal division at Woolworths, commanding a team of 11 lawyers and dealing with more than 10 preferred law firms.

Following a few years of learning the corporate law ropes at Norton Smith & Co, Bordignon followed the well-trodden path of a stint in London, landing at Herbert Smith.  Upon his return, he joined the corporate group at Blake Dawson as a senior associate - and shortly after, fate came knocking on his door: “While I was there I was approached by a consultant, who was looking to recruit for Woolworths. It was around the time Peter Horton came on as general counsel at Woolworths,” says Bordignon. “He was looking to expand the team – so I met with Peter and was very interested in what he wanted to do with the team and what he wanted to do with the culture within the Woolworths legal team.”

Bordignon assumed his current role at Woolworths in 2006 and since then has grown the legal team in his department from three to 12. “The legal team was very small, that was one of the key things that needed to be addressed,” says Bordignon. And so, after identifying areas of legal practice not being serviced and the people with the skills for those roles Bordignon began to build the team.  “I had to demonstrate to the business and the CEO (Michael Luscombe) that this was a cost effective thing to do,” he says. “We are a cost to the business - and there is a need to demonstrate that the cost is worth it.” 

These initial days at Woolworth’s were also filled with some personal development for Bordignon: “I had not had a lot of experience managing people before I started here. The large amount of people management that comes with this role was an unexpected part of the job. I try and look forward more now, try and anticipate pressure points rather than those things having to be dealt with after a problem has arisen.”

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