Team size: Six

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

Dealing with suppliers’ issues as such price increase requests, suppliers’ insolvencies, negotiating price adjustments due to volume decreases with customers, warranty claims, litigation cases and training programs for the purchasing and sales teams on commercial contracts and product liability.

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

Work with the business and cross-functional teams to make sure we align on approach and objectives; set up a crisis team with experienced lawyers; issue standard letters, guidelines and FAQ to support the business; and set up trainings to raise legal awareness.

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

I was the President of our French company for more than 10 years, this gave me opportunities to better understand the business as well as social relations since I also led the Works Councils. This experience helped me a lot in my job as a lawyer to better understand business issues.

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?

Since we are responsible for EMEA, we use external counsels to advise on specific legal issues in a country where we do not have sufficient knowledge. Cost efficiency, responsiveness, practical and business-oriented approach are the main criteria we use to evaluate performance.