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

We have recently been involved in multiple cases regarding several different disciplines. However, there are two major cases which are definitely worth mentioning since they required all our dedication and focus.

One of these cases occurred in the midst of the pandemic — the Arbitration lawsuit against the Urban Development and Renovation company of Bogotá, in which the suspension of future payments of the trust agreements signed with said entity was intended due to the pandemic. We managed to find a settlement through the establishment of a contract managing the remaining payments for the acquisition of the most important urban piece in the centre of Bogotá, for a value of $42.307.692.

What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how do you intend to assist with this?

The pandemic has highly impacted the way of working for in-house lawyers, from drafting contracts to conducting hearings and in general advising our internal clients. I believe that this transformation will continue since we are becoming more digital.

We have just recently created a task management structure, which will be completed by the end of the year, with the scope to generate digital traceability for the entire company. We are working towards a digital transformation through the implementation of Gantt diagrammes and virtual repository of documents. We have already started implementing this when dealing with our clients, introducing e-signatures.

If you had to give advice to an aspiring in-house lawyer or general counsel, what would it be and why?

The first advice I would give is to read the book ‘Carta a García’ by Elbert Hubbard. Act like Rowan — look for solutions and investigate; everything has a solution, and you must be a good student and a dedicated researcher to find it.

Being strategic and investigative should be accompanied by setting objectives and creating a viable plan to reach them. Studying and researching is essential, as well as having the ability to embrace changes, showing resilience and adaptability to different circumstances.

Finally, I would suggest getting familiar with software programming and data analysis, since the legal profession is transforming, and lawyers are becoming more digital than they used to be.