Team Size: 15

What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

My team is responsible for the drafting, negotiating, and executing the contracts and related documents for the Latam geography, worth $1.3bn. All our core business legal work is done in house. This means we support our commercial teams from the start of the business opportunity until final execution of the contracts and related documents.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

I believe that the key drivers during periods of instability or crisis are communication and flexibility. Communication is critical, as it is important not only to be close to your team members, but also to your relevant stakeholders. You need to be able to map out potential scenarios and outcomes for their business opportunities and other legal issues. During periods of instability or crisis, time is of the essence, and we must be able to react with a short notice. This matches with your flexibility skill. You must be able to accommodate and be legally creative, within the legal framework in which you operate, to be able to achieve the goals set by the company.  

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?

Our decision to use external legal services is based on specificity of the matter in hand or whether the size of a potential deal makes it necessary. Hence, we will hire external counsels for litigation, tax advisory, M&As, labour advisory among other specific legal matters.

Given the current geopolitical shifts and growing uncertainties around international free trade, has your company’s risk profile evolved, and are you taking measures to address these challenges?  

We have specific teams set based out from Corporate, that help set out “rules of engagement” for these new times. We work closely with them to accommodate our corporate rules, within the specific geographies and applicable legal frameworks. This work proves to be of a great value not only for us as an organisation, but also for our clients due to their global nature and business approach.

How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact?

I believe that key factor is not to look at ourselves as a support group of the business strategy, but rather a key stakeholder of the same. This requires the legal team to have a clear understanding of the line business of the company, the services we offer to our customers and make your legal advice an attractive element of your company’s offerings. You must be engaged from the beginning of a business opportunity or project. This will allow you to leverage your legal experience from the start up, allowing for a more robust buildup of the offering or project at hand.