What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Our legal department consist of a large team serving several areas, so there are various achievements that I would like to highlight. First, I would focus on our team’s growing proximity to our business partners within the company, particularly in commercial, operations and management teams areas. Also, we have been very active in monitoring, mitigating risks and settling disputes, both arbitration and litigations, in various areas of law.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use? Examples could be greater flexibility in billing, a more expansive suite of services offered, more transparency in reporting ESG statistics etc.

There are some aspects about external law firms that I think could use some change. For instance, many law firms are still reluctant to professionalise management and modernise the mindset of their teams. This involves multidisciplinary training, diversity, transparency and empathy. Including during these difficult times that many company are experiencing, greater flexibility in hiring fees should be introduced. Additionally, external lawyers need to genuinely seek to understand their client’s pain, and focus their efforts on alternative solutions. Unfortunately many still focus only on winning the dispute or pursuing the path that only they believe to be correct.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

I believe, for a corporate legal team to succeed in the modern in-house industry, it needs to possess assertive communication, greater curiosity and empathy. These traits would make any legal department genuinely understand the needs of their business partners and colleagues within the company. Lastly, I would mention greater accountability and responsibility for finding solutions to difficult challenges, whether related to the business side, or the legal side of the company.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

To build a strong relationship with business partners, an in-house lawyer needs to truly understand the business, ask questions about the various areas within the company, and get to know and visit the company’s operations and people, during formal or informal meetings, listening to their business partners’ needs and put themselves in their shoes. Only with this understanding and proximity will the in-house lawyer stand out in his work.