Team size: 18

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?

Before developing its own strategy, Legal must understand the priorities and business KPIs during the periods of crisis or instability and, based on that, Legal contributions will be placed and executed. Some internal projects could be postponed, or cost reduction could be implemented to guarantee cashflow or the execution of improvements in the business area; these types of measures will support the company to face the crisis and avoid material impact on the results. On the other hand, communication is a key element in this phase because it will guarantee not only the correct execution of the priorities but also the sense of team working and resilience. Respect and trust through open and clear communication engage people in a very deep way.

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

I’m leading the strategy of material tax cases started from tax assessments done many years ago, providing a fresh view over the strategies. But the most interesting case involved a legal marketing question, started more than 30 years ago and judged by the Superior Court recently. In this case, the key element was to convince the court to judge and assess the case as the culture and practices of 1980’.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

Midea Carrier has embedded sustainability practices from the manufacturing until the development of new products, using technology as commitment for a more efficient and sustainable world. Our Company is one of the founders of ABREE – Brazilian association on logistic reverse, formed by the main players in the sector of home appliances and electronics. The association provides awareness, guides and services for our final consumers to guarantee a correct environmental destination for our home appliances products before the disposal of. I was nominated by the associated companies as Head of Legal and to join the Execute Committee and I’m accumulating this position with my role at Midea Carrier. I’m glad for this nomination because it allows me to contribute for sustainability in a more broad sense, not only from a legal perspective.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

Artificial Intelligence will change the way that we execute some activities and will be a great tool for Legal Depts to improve efficiency, providing time for strategic issues. Efficiency will be improved by the tools connected to AI for contracts and intellectual property assessments, litigation management, for example. The main question, not only in Legal but in all areas, is whether AI will replace job positions. In my view, AI means a similar transformation with the one that occurred on the job market at the time of industrial revolution in the XVIII century, when manual activities were replaced by machines. Human intelligence should be used to extract information from the AI database, because reasoning will remain a human capability that not overcome by AI. Many other interesting questions will be raised about AI generative on the legal floor, including about intellectual property and data privacy. Until one comprehensive legislation about AI is in force, the main concepts and principles of law must be used to guarantee rights and the efficiency of the legal system.