What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

I’m currently finalising a project I began last year: an internal workflow application for requesting and managing company contracts. While these applications exist on the market, the challenge was to create something internally, working with our IT team, that would fit our needs and work style without compromising the personal contact so necessary within our teams. We managed to create a system that connects with existing work tools, such as Teams, and generated significant savings for the company by being built in-house.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  

Communication: the best key for success in uncertain or difficult moments. No one is left out; as a company, we need to be connected and work together to mitigate risks. We want to guide them through tough situations that could affect our business or reputation, all while staying true to our business plan. That means we need to spot potential legal risks and be ready to deal with them before they happen. We should also review our contracts with customers and suppliers to make sure we can take action if needed. Communication should be clear, and we should protect the company’s data and confidentiality, this is a must.     

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?  

 Sustainability. I really care about the planet we are leaving to our kids. And that’s one thing I really love about the company I work in. I know for a fact that Weir is really committed to help our customers to be more sustainable and efficient. Our commitment to sustainability is driven by our purpose: to enable the sustainable and efficient delivery of the natural resources essential to create a better future for the world. I’m really proud to work in a company that has this goal.

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?    

We want to be an efficient team that understands the business needs and focuses on that. We need to be responsive and real partners to our internal clients, understand their urgencies and be there for them. But, we can’t handle everything and of course we need support from external counsels. As we say in Chile, “pastelero a tus pasteles” (stick to what you know) and that’s when you search for firms that have deep knowledge of our business, that stand with our values, and that understands our goals and help us achieve that. And this is exactly the criteria I use to evaluate their performance.