General counsel South East Europe | Siemens Energy Austria
Dr. Bernard Reviczky
General counsel South East Europe | Siemens Energy Austria
What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?
Over the past year, I have been involved in several key projects, including the engineering, procurement and construction of H2 electrolysers in collaboration with a major Austrian energy company. I have also supported intragroup M&A transactions involving Trench Austria and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. In addition, I worked on the engineering, procurement and construction of transformers with a major Austrian grid operator.
What strategies do you employ to ensure the successful digital transformation of a legal department while maintaining compliance with your country’s data protection laws?
We are using an online tool which serves as our register of applications; it includes all internal applications that are processing personal-related data.
When it comes to structuring and using data, in addition to traditional Windows files in Explorer, we are working on a company-wide Contract Lifecycle System. Reading and writing rights are thoroughly to be defined.
In place is a legal knowledge database with generic templates; no personal data is included therein.
Already in the last stages of creation, we aim to have an internal legal chatbot, which should be the first point of contact for basic legal queries. A tool is ready which delivers redline versions in accordance with our standard contract clauses.
Each tool has its own global tool owner, who is responsible for aligning with the targeted countries before rollout.
What do you think sets you apart from other in-house counsel?
Both my education and professional track were focused on both law and economics. Based on that learning, I concluded that legal jobs might be performed scientifically, administratively or to enable others to do business. I have chosen the third approach.
Further, I aimed in the early stages of my professional life to do and learn as much and as many different things as possible. Nowadays, I can look back on commercial, corporate M&A, litigation expertise and a profound knowledge of antitrust, data privacy and company-related matters such as trade and tax law.
Finally, it is always important to be able to communicate effectively, ensuring that you are understood and building a trustful relationship. All of the above are essential ingredients for becoming a General Counsel in law matters and beyond.
What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?
Flexibility, eagerness for continuous learning, the ability to adapt to internal rules and regulations, and the capability to think outside the box in creating legal solutions that enable the business and its operations. At the moment, a modern and motivated in-house counsel needs to have an interest in online tools and AI, as working with them has already begun and will significantly grow over the next few years.
