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

One key project was a high-stakes customs valuation and royalty tax defense. I executed a corporate administrative defense against a Special Customs Request (REA) issued by Colombia’s DIAN regarding trademark royalty inclusion in the customs value of imported goods. As lead architect, I engineered a litigation strategy leveraging WTO Advisory Opinion 4.13. I proved a lack of interdependence between trade mark licensing and import operations, demonstrating royalties did not constitute a condition of sale under regional laws. I also exposed arbitrary flaws in DIAN’s mathematical estimations that mixed local acquisitions with foreign commerce. I secured a substantial reduction of the initially proposed fiscal contingency. Backed by an over 70% probability of judicial success, I established a compliance roadmap, insulating Whirlpool from systemic penalties and securing savings over $570,000, while redefining regional customs standards.

I also led the legal negotiation and structural overhaul of multi-million-dollar distribution agreements with regional allies, notably Corripio ($7m/year) and Repideales ($3.5/year). I pivoted negotiations into agile commercial alliances, protecting market flexibility by rejecting aggressive exclusivity clauses and punitive termination covenants. Concurrently, I drafted robust supply-chain continuity guarantees and structured multi-tier dispute resolution clauses. I secured $10.5m in annualised contracts, ensuring supply chain stability across Latin American corridors under a ‘Fair Play’ framework aligned with regional antitrust laws.

Can you describe an instance where your legal advice directly influenced business strategy or commercial objectives?

A defining instance shifted Whirlpool’s commercial trajectory during the strategic launch of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) e-commerce platforms in Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala. The commercial team envisioned a rapid digital rollout using existing B2B frameworks.

However, I identified a critical structural risk: operating under a unified legal entity without operational segregation would expose Whirlpool to systemic consumer liability, data privacy penalties, and antitrust friction regarding vertical price alignment.

Instead of blocking the initiative, I proactively intervened to pivot business strategy using the ‘Split Initiative’. I executed a corporate architecture that decoupled wholesale B2B operations from new digital D2C retail flows. This involved drafting cross-border commercial policies, redefining digital logistical risk-transfer points (obligations of result vs. obligations of means), and embedding automated compliance checkpoints (like dynamic right-of-withdrawal matrices) into the infrastructure.

This advice transformed a high-risk gamble into a scalable business model. The ‘Split Initiative’ enabled an ahead-of-schedule D2C launch, insulated core B2B revenue streams from retail liabilities, and achieved 100% clean regulatory compliance audits, proving that the legal department serves as a powerful catalyst for innovation and revenue growth.

What major challenges or risks should in-house legal teams be preparing for over the next twelve months?

In-house legal teams must prepare for two critical risk areas: hyper-regulatory fiscal enforcement and the rise of collective digital consumer litigation.

First, macroeconomic pressures drive regional tax authorities to increase audit scrutiny. We are mitigating this by expanding proactive fiscal-contractual modeling — building on our Stamp Tax Initiative — to ensure all cross-border IP, transfer pricing, and royalty agreements are structured defensively before audits arise.

Second, consumer protection agencies in LATAM are modernising, increasing class-action risks. We are developing predictive risk matrices and strengthening our authorised service networks to neutralise disputes before they escalate into systemic corporate liabilities.

How can in-house counsel use AI to improve efficiency while maintaining quality, governance and integrity within legal teams?

Deploying artificial intelligence (AI) requires a dual framework: leveraging automation to eradicate administrative friction while enforcing a zero-trust governance model.

We integrated AI-driven contract analytics tools to streamline the first-pass review of high-volume distribution agreements and consumer warranty templates. Company strategy mandates that all AI usage occurs strictly within an isolated, enterprise-grade private cloud, ensuring proprietary data never feeds public models.

We utilise AI for semantic searches, analysing cross-border regulatory changes and drafting compliance clauses. To maintain governance, a strict ‘Human-in-the-Loop’ (HITL) protocol ensures no AI-generated output is sent to a business unit without senior counsel validation, optimising efficiency while insulating the company from data leaks, algorithmic biases, or legal ‘hallucinations’.