Legal manager | SOFRATESA
Julissa Matias
Legal manager | SOFRATESA
Team size: 6 attorneys
What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?
Our team advised on a major commercial transaction: a very large-scale acquisition case of a company based in Sevilla, Spain with subsidiaries in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru, including due diligence, contract negotiations, and regulatory compliance work to this case.
We drafted and reviewed many contract and partnership agreements, including commercial agreements with key industrial partners and suppliers, warranting alignment with legal canons and diminishing risks.
Our legal team was involved in a number of regulatory compliance projects, leading initiatives to update internal policies such as the Code of Ethics and Commercial Conduct, and the Anti-corruption Policy of the company.
How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?
During periods of instability or crisis, my approach to managing legal aspects focuses on three aspects: risk anticipation, rapid adaptability, and legal-business alignment.
I carry out proactive risk assessment: I activate emergency protocols to evaluate current and emerging legal risks across regulatory, contractual, and operational domains.
I ensure cross-functional coordination, making sure there is close partnership with risk management, communications, HR, and senior leadership to bring into line legal policies with real-time decision-making. This promotes consistent answers and decreases exposure.
Contractual flexibility and scenario planning are also key. I review force majeure articles, renegotiation rights, and contingency instruments within contracts to decrease responsibilities.
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?
The importance of the matter: external law firms might provide faster access to specific information or supplementary resources required on tight deadlines.
Costs also influence this decision. External advice might be more or less expensive depending on the case, but in-house handling might reduce expenses for day-to-day matters.
The availability of the team must also be taken into account. The internal legal team’s workload effect whether extra help is necessary.
Complexity is also considered. Highly difficult or specialized matters may entail external experts with a particular knowledge.
The criteria for evaluating external legal services include costs, efficiency, knowledge, communication, and ability to meet deadlines.
Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?
Contract automation and the use of technology. The adoption of AI and automation tools for compliance monitoring contract review, and legal research is fast-tracking, requiring in-house teams to advance on digital knowledge.
Regulatory Changes: governments are revising protocols across various areas, especially regarding technology, financial services, and environmental standards. Observance in watching these changes can moderate compliance risks.
In-house counsel should also be aware of remote and hybrid work guidelines, creating flexible employment strategies that address remote work and labor law compliance.
Environmental initiatives are another key trend. Legal teams must recognise related rules to support environmental obligations.