Team size: Three

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?

Over the past five years, we have navigated a series of challenges that have significantly impacted our business. It began with the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced a temporary halt in production, followed by a prolonged period of strict health and safety protocols. We had to interpret and implement a complex and ever-evolving set of national and regional regulations across our mills and offices throughout Italy. Timely updates, cross-functional discussions and rapid responses became crucial to maintain operations in compliance with the law.

However, even more disruptive than the pandemic was the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. As companies belonging to a Ukrainian group, we had to completely change our business model. Our supply chain had to be restructured, involving the sourcing of raw materials from new markets—often as far as East Asia.

This unfortunately still ongoing situation required the legal team to manage force majeure circumstances, implement new templates, negotiate with new suppliers for raw material procurement, and adopt Know Your Counterparty (KYC) procedures.

In each of these crises, my approach has been proactive and hands-on: staying constantly informed, deeply understanding the evolving needs of our companies through discussions with other functions, and delivering quick, legally sound solutions.

In sum, it has required being on the front line, motivated, prepared, and ready to make legal advice clear, practical and easy to apply.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

Although my company has not yet developed a standalone sustainability report—unlike the group—I have taken a proactive role in this area. While obtaining a diploma in ESG from the Corporate Governance Institute last year, I launched a cross-functional working group involving HSE, finance and administration, HR, and the legal department.

In its first year, this group independently carried out a double materiality assessment in line with ESRS requirements and defined a sustainability roadmap. In the current year, with the support of Confindustria, we completed an ‘orienteering’ assessment on sustainability.

My role in this area has been one of guidance: coordinating teams, driving the agenda, and fostering collaboration across departments.

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?

Among emerging technologies, Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly the most disruptive. Its impact will be significant not only on how we work internally – accelerating response times and enhancing the quality of our output – but also externally, as it is likely to raise expectations for greater efficiency and may lead to our legal advice being questioned or compared against AI-generated content.

As always, my approach is proactive: staying informed, undergoing training, and using this technology while carefully considering the legal concerns it may raise. In this context, I am currently leading the development of internal AI rules to be adopted by our companies.