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

From a legal perspective, it’s valuable to seize opportunities that could arise from periods of crisis, taking into consideration the core business of the organisation, its long-term needs, the fluctuating market conditions and the players in the market. Specifically on transactional matters, periods of instability would require (a) to activate key contractual clauses oriented to protect the organisation and to ensure organisation’s continuance of operations and (b) to achieve short/medium term contractual commitments (considering that the market instability may not allow to get -at that point- the most favourable conditions) that guarantee the continuation of operations under satisfactory terms of the parties involved. Moreover, it is crucial to align operational realities and legal strategy to boost risk management.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

Participating in the decarbonising process of Consorcio Energético Punta Cana Macao (CEPM), S.A. to become a net-zero-emissions electricity company by 2030 has been a particularly unique experience. This initiative, called “CEPM Zero”, aims to achieve carbon neutrality at CEPM through the development of renewable energy projects. From a legal perspective, this commitment has required a strong legal strategy to identify the most suitable transactional structures, the potential risks, and the tax impact on the organisation.

AI has been taken seriously as a potentially revolutionary technological change in the legal world for a number of years now. Has it had a meaningful impact in how your legal team works in this time?

AI is reshaping industries and the transactional field of such industries, impacting on the tools available to structure legal strategies, to assess risks and to interact between the parties. It holds great value to explore AI as a support tool, and to stay updated on these developments. However, it’s equally important to make a responsible use of this tool, and that requires that -at all times-there is a competent human guiding any AI implementation, in whatever field there is.