Team size: 1 lawyer in Bulgaria reporting to me

What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

As the Head Legal Counsel for Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, North Macedonia & Kosovo, I am involved in various key projects across these countries. Worth mentioning are major business expansion real estate projects, negotiations with airports and CAAs, the innovative Albanian postal vote project for the diaspora, shareholding streamlining, NIS 2 Cyber Security Directive implementation, GoGreen sustainable product launch & promotion, ESG monitoring and compliance with new Directives, driving awareness for Competition Compliance & Data Protection to the business, AI transformation in Legal, and leading Employee Engagement for Legal Europe (approx. 70 colleagues).

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

During my career, I have had the opportunity to experience different legal working “regimes” and industries. I first worked with my own law firm for a few years as a young “entrepreneur”, living the daily battle of a court lawyer, then as a legal advisor with an English law firm based in Piraeus specialising in ship finance. Finally, I moved in-house—first in large Greek family-owned businesses, and then in the most multinational company in the world – DHL – operating in 220 countries.

Over the years, I have found it both interesting and exciting to navigate through such diverse industries as shipping, real estate, private wealth, steel, media, and for the last 18 years, logistics with DHL. Looking back, I feel blessed to have had these opportunities and challenges to expand my legal horizons—living in interesting times, meeting remarkable people, and being involved in extraordinary projects.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful?

For DHL, as a multinational leader in the logistics industry, a trusted partner for our customers, and an Employer of Choice for our employees, it is imperative to stay on top of the critical changes in an increasingly volatile and complex world. Therefore, we — both as a business and as legal — are focusing on the following five megatrends that are shaping our industry: digitalisation – embedding digital capabilities in our legal operations, making the team more efficient, agile, and prepared for long-term success; e-commerce – helping the business scale with global reach and smart logistics solutions; global trade – supporting businesses to stay ahead in an era of global change through customer-centric innovation; climate change – a transformative opportunity to redefine what it means to be a global leader in logistics; evolving workforce – reimagining how we attract, retain, and engage legal talent, fostering a culture that supports and empowers every team member to thrive.

This focus keeps us aligned with global developments, well-placed to handle turbulent situations, and geared towards innovation, resilience, and growth for the years ahead. It is undoubtedly a valuable mindset for in-house lawyers, who must remain proactive and attuned to business needs well in advance.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive work environment?

As our DHL legal team is spread across more than 150 countries, we focus on creating an inclusive and psychologically safe work environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging, can bring their authentic self to work each day, and feels confident to contribute.

To support this, we have our Global Legal Diversity Council, in which I am proud to participate as a representative of the European team. In this context, I am passionate about raising awareness of important topics through various initiatives, such as Diversity Week, Pride Month, International Mental Health Day, and the “Happy Lawyers” Health & Wellbeing Project.