Today Axiom announced that Jacob Flax has been appointed MD and Country Head of Axiom Australia. He joins Axiom from Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) Australia, where he served as Senior Vice President of Australia business operations. Jacob’s appointment furthers Axiom’s commitment to providing high-quality, flexible legal talent on-demand to Australian in-house legal teams, and follows Axiom’s acquisition of Plexus Engage in 2022, one of Australia’s leading secondment providers.
In this new role, Jacob will focus on empowering businesses, corporate general counsel, and legal operations leaders to improve the effectiveness and transform the efficiency of their in-house and legal ops teams. Whenever legal resourcing needs arise, they can use Axiom’s high-calibre, on-demand legal talent network to meet essential requirements for everything from everyday in-house tasks to complex in-house and outside counsel work.
“Jacob brings a wealth of client partnership and leadership experience in Australia, across each of the unique Australian markets, and a genuine belief in the importance of world-class client service,” said David Pierce, Chief Commercial Officer at Axiom. “He’s absolutely the right person to lead our business on the continent, and I’m thrilled to welcome him to the global Axiom leadership team.”
Jacob’s appointment comes as GCs and in-house legal teams are facing significant operational and regulatory obstacles. According to a series of regional GC surveys conducted by Wakefield Research and commissioned by Axiom, nearly 90% of regional GCs are concerned their legal department won't be able to invest in the necessary talent and resources due to economic volatility in 2024; over 95% said their legal departments don't have the necessary legal resources in-house to do their jobs effectively; and more than 80% said it's difficult for their legal departments to hire the right legal talent to address their needs.
“General counsel and in-house legal teams are facing a unique set of challenges—from tightening budgets and fierce competition for legal talent to mounting regulatory complexity,” Jacob said. “The mandate is clear: they must achieve more with fewer resources, without sacrificing quality or results. Axiom’s mission is to deliver unparalleled value and innovation to in-house legal departments so they can optimise their resourcing and actually do more for less. Our track-record of uniting top-tier legal talent with discerning clients means we can help legal leaders simplify their workflow management and navigate this unforgiving landscape. I’m eager to collaborate with our extraordinary clients and our exceptional team to help GCs achieve more for less across the region.”
During his tenure at GLG, Jacob played an integral role on the Australia executive team with comprehensive P&L accountability. In addition to cultivating major enterprise client partnerships, he devised segment strategies and oversaw budgeting, forecasting and talent acquisition, and fuelling double-digit annual growth.
Prior to GLG, Jacob served in sales and financial product analytics roles at Bloomberg LP in London, collaborating with institutional clients to deliver bespoke technology and software solutions. At Deloitte Australia, Jacob worked for the Financial Advisory Services division, specialising in due diligence engagements for investment banks, retail banks, and private equity firms. His track record encompasses involvement in landmark transactions such as the $1.3 billion sale of SAI Global and $3 billion divestiture of ASIC’s registry business.
Jacob holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Sydney, where he majored in Accounting and Finance. He also earned his Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accounting (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and his Diploma of Financial Planning, Accredited Derivatives from Kaplan Professional.