Team size: Five

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 organization’s resilience?

I believe that the importance of the internal legal department and our role as general counsel keeps growing in this ever-expanding compliance world. We as attorneys need to be ready to proactively identify risk, attend and be ready to analyse any legal implications, both local and/or cross-border, and act swiftly through crises to ensure the company’s business continues to run.

In this regard, team building is as important as ever, even in this post-COVID world where we are working remotely or in hybrid systems. Communication and working alongside boards of directors, compliance officers, and shareholders should be encouraged to ensure that instability or crises find the company on stable ground. I believe that preparation, adaptability, and transparency for the implementation of key solutions are key aspects to ensure resilience and solid business strategies.

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Uruguay over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?

I believe that facing growth in this unstable world, politically and economically, as well as the implementation of new technologies, should be major areas of concern for a small country. Uruguay is a small market with an important focus on international markets and qualified professional service provision, so we need to continue to generate top-level professionals who are adept at integrating new technologies. Our role as GCs and legal practitioners is essential to ensure legal compliance and sustainability.

Also, Uruguay has a major task in reducing costs, since we are an extremely expensive country in which to do business. Companies are interested in investing in tech and AI, and not so much in covering high operational expenses. Therefore, we need to find ways to tackle this and ensure companies continue to find our country appealing. Reinforcement of free-trade zones is essential, as is continuing to show political and legal stability.