Team size: 20

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In-house lawyers constantly deal with crises and instability, both external and internal, and must respond quickly to these situations to minimise impacts and resolve issues. It is essential to understand the economic and political landscape—both global and national—at a macro level as well as within the specific sector in which the company operates in order to provide effective contributions. Beyond acting within the company, a lawyer enhances the importance of their work by representing the company in forums dedicated to discussing current and relevant topics, whether through professional associations or other entities. This allows for the anticipation of various scenarios and the adoption of the best strategies and positions, both preventive and corrective.

As the leader of the legal department, the team’s goals and our actions must always align with the company’s objectives. The legal area should not be seen as a cost center or a barrier to doing business; it must generate results, including financial ones, with a constant mindset of productivity, cost avoidance, and savings. Furthermore, dynamism, agility, and efficiency are minimum requirements for earning trust within the organisation. In a crisis scenario, the lawyer must remain calm, act quickly, connect the right people and departments, and map out the different possibilities and their impacts to support more assertive decision-making. Presenting all risks and their severity is essential, as is working together with the business to find solutions—becoming a true partner.

The lawyer should participate in the company’s strategy and decision-making processes, not only from a legal standpoint but by going beyond, always considering what is best for the company, taking into account risks, impacts, and results.

In doing so, they become a strong business ally, involved in shaping the company’s goals and decisions. They are an essential and indispensable voice—often providing the direction the company needs, which brings greater security to the corporate environment.

What are the major cases or transactions you have been involved in recently?

In a dynamic and disruptive company that is constantly growing and expanding, we are faced with many interesting and challenging cases and projects that keep us motivated. Among them, our team has worked on several high-impact topics, such as: (i) the expansion of Social Commerce initiatives on the e-commerce platform, involving influencers, affiliates, and content creators—figures typical of the digital environment, yet still relatively new—bringing complexity in structuring the rules governing their relationship with the platform, along with the related rights and obligations; (ii) the broadcasting of the Olympics on Mercado Play via Cazé TV and the launch of the corresponding app on Smart TVs, enabling millions of Brazilians to access streaming content (with over 1.2 million available titles) for free; (iii) new platform features, such as B2B sales and product installation services (starting with tires); (iv) key commercial agreements, including the launch of official stores for Natura, Avon, and Boticário; (v) Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu – a Naming Rights agreement signed between Mercado Livre and the concessionaire Allegra Pacaembu, which includes brand exposure for the Mercado Livre group, media spaces, and benefits involving the entire ecosystem, such as the Mercado Play streaming platform and the Meli+ loyalty program, as well as designating the digital bank Mercado Pago as the official payment method for the Pacaembu Stadium. The agreement could last up to 30 years, with a potential value exceeding BRL 1 billion (at current figures), should all contractual renewals be exercised; and (vi) the launch of the new loyalty program, Meli+, in its essential and full versions.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

Technology has significantly impacted business and the way it is conducted. Especially for Legal Departments, it has become a powerful ally in managing workloads and eliminating repetitive tasks. Its importance has grown to such an extent that it has given rise to a new area known as Legal Operations—focused on department management and efficiency, as well as the development and identification of systems that can enhance the work of lawyers according to their demands and needs. The same expectations apply to external law firms, as modern technological solutions serve as differentiators and sources of opportunity.

In this context, the team is encouraged to constantly explore the most up-to-date offerings in the lawtech market—trends and new use cases. This exploration is carried out through vendors and partners, legal fairs and events, and benchmarking, and must naturally take into account the specific needs of the Legal Department. There are various tools and systems that support the management and execution of in-house legal activities, but the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked many discussions about its impact on the legal profession. This technology is transforming legal work to make it more strategic and efficient.

The use of generative AI—when done responsibly, ethically, and transparently, in compliance with legal standards and company-approved policies—can be encouraged as a starting point for document analysis and drafting, without forgoing the necessary human review. Combined with the automation of repetitive tasks, it can result in significant time (and therefore cost) savings, allowing corporate lawyers to focus solely on complex, strategic, and business-oriented matters.

Legal work will not disappear; it will always be necessary to guide and feed AI, review outputs, and provide strategic opinions. However, the shift in the focus of in-house legal work will raise expectations: there will be no room for basic contributions, only for value-adding work that drives real outcomes. As is already the case today, in the future, there will be no place for lawyers who are not connected to technology.