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?

Throughout my experience in law firms, government, and as an in-house lawyer, I have concluded the following as key points to adequately support and accompany any company during a period of instability or crisis.

It is important to let the company know exactly where the added value of the legal department lies. This prevents the department’s participation from being ignored and decisions from being made without first consulting the legal team.

The legal team must be agile, adequate, and have well-defined roles. Depending on the circumstances, the team can be made up of both the company’s internal and external advisers, or a good mix of both, with proper supervision and guidance. A typical mistake in agility is wanting to concentrate everything on either the internal or external team, or having the external team composed of a single firm that attempts to manage the entire matter. Not all firms are suitable or ideal for covering all aspects of a case. It is not enough to have the best Partner if their team is not adequate.

Legal support must also be dynamic. If it does not constantly adapt to the needs and strategies of the business – which are typically those of the market and often quite volatile – it simply becomes a burden in terms of time and money, eventually hindering any company strategy.

Communication is another essential element. The above aspects only work to the extent that the legal department has up-to-date and complete information to provide its best advice, and that such information is shared with the key people involved in each matter. Without good communication, the focus on the broader business strategy is lost, and the legal department’s support becomes inadequate.

The cost of the legal department, like any other department, must be managed diligently at all times, and even more so in times of instability or crisis. Typically, this aspect is controlled by the head of the company’s legal department and no one else.

It is also essential to ensure that other areas trust you and your team. Losing their trust will result in not being involved in matters in a timely manner, or in them avoiding sharing complete and accurate information with you.

An important part of a company’s resilience is the certainty that the legal department often provides in difficult times.

Ethics must always be safeguarded. It is essential to ensure that the company has appropriate and up-to-date codes of ethics and that they are fully complied with. When legal certainty is lost within a company, people tend to look for other jobs or business alternatives.

Finally, it is important to always try to find a solution before saying that something is not possible legally speaking.

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

Renegotiation of all agave purchase agreements, considering the drop in demand for tequila and the excess of agave in the market. Tequila Espolón (Campari) is the sixth best-selling tequila in terms of annual sales. The expansion project for the Campari Distillery in Jalisco involved an investment of approximately USD$220 million. The acquisition of 100% of the ‘Montelobos Mezcal’ and ‘Ancho Reyes’ brands was also completed.