Team size: approx. 20

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

Providing legal support for our grid expansion projects, international/pan-European market integration projects, implementing and working on risk-/chances-evaluation due to new legal framework, organising a central contract monitoring management system and developing AI-based regulatory and legal monitoring tool.

What do you think sets you apart from other in-house counsel?

Energy law and, more specifically, electricity law is an extremely volatile field of law, especially due to the latest geo-political developments and their economic effects as well as the pan-European endeavors and initiatives to facilitate green energy transition which strengthen the importance of electricity for the future energy system. What makes us different from other companies´ challenges and requirements is that, in our daily legal work, we are incessantly working on the interface between public law with its high regulatory standards and requirements and civil law as legal framework acting as an incorporated company. My team is keen on working hard on this big challenge in order to do our bit to make green energy transition happen.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

In-house counsel need to know and understand the key principles of “the business”, its core procedures and how added value is generated by your company. On the one hand, as an in-house lawyer, you need to have a generic and broad legal know-how in order to identify significant legal issues and risks and to facilitate solutions to the success of your business. On the other hand, expert knowledge in the fields of law that are specifically relevant for the business model of your company. To cover these demands day by day is our continuous challenge.

What do you think is the greatest innovation you have enacted in the past year?

Currently, together with an external service provider, we are developing an AI-based regulatory and legal monitoring tool to safeguard a continuous overview on amendments of our complex and volatile legal framework. This will help to avoid and identify legal risks, prepare to meet future requirements and to plan ahead strategically.