Team size: 32
  
  
What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Over the past year, our Legal Department has been deeply engaged in a transformation journey designed to strengthen its alignment with its own purpose — a purpose we collectively defined to clarify why we exist and how we create value within Klépierre.

Our first step was to redefine our raison d’être, turning it into a compass that guides every decision and interaction. It anchors our cultural and strategic transformation: the Legal team is not only there to manage risks but also to enable performance and support the company’s ambition with pragmatic, business-oriented advice.

One of our most visible achievements has been the introduction of legal design principles to make our communication and legal materials clearer, more accessible, and directly usable by our internal clients. This approach embodies our commitment to user-centricity and continuous improvement, and it has helped to strengthen collaboration and trust across the business.

We also developed a structured performance framework through the definition of relevant KPIs that reflect both our operational efficiency and our strategic contribution. This shift has been key in turning performance into a mindset — one that is now measured, discussed, and continuously improved.

Ultimately, the Legal Department is now recognised as a strategic partner, capable of anticipating risks, fostering innovation, and enabling responsible growth. The journey continues — we are still progressing towards becoming truly bilingual in both legal and business languages, with curiosity, humility, and a shared sense of purpose.

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

In challenging times, clarity and alignment are essential. Our raison d’être plays a central role: it acts as our compass, keeping the team focused on what truly matters and ensuring consistency in our decisions and advice.

Our approach is based on proximity, anticipation and calm leadership. We work hand in hand with operational teams to stay connected to business realities and to translate uncertainty into actionable guidance. The goal is always to create stability through clarity.

We have also built a strong internal culture of collective ownership, encouraging each team member to take responsibility for their area and to contribute to resilience through collaboration and transparency. This shared accountability, guided by our purpose, enables us to navigate instability with agility and confidence.
  
What strategies do you employ to ensure the successful digital transformation of a legal department while maintaining compliance with your country’s data protection laws? 

For us, digital transformation begins with simplification, not automation. Before adopting any technology, we focus on understanding and improving our processes — ensuring they are clear, efficient and compliant.

Compliance is part of our DNA: it underpins every project and every choice. But beyond compliance, our goal is to make technology serve our mission — to help build a legal function that is both pragmatic and innovative, supporting the creation of the most sustainable business platform for tomorrow.

This means using data and technology not as ends in themselves, but as enablers — tools that help us move faster, make better-informed decisions, and strengthen transparency and ethics at every step. Our ambition is to cultivate digital confidence within the team while preserving our values and sense of purpose.
 
How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?

At Klépierre, sustainability and responsibility are not side initiatives — they are embedded in the company’s identity. The Legal Department plays a pivotal role in translating these principles into day-to-day business conduct.

As I shared during a recent podcast conversation, I believe that the role of a General Counsel is to embody coherence: between what the company says and what it does, between regulation and ethics, and between intention and execution.

Our raison d’être naturally integrates ESG principles — it reminds us that legal excellence is inseparable from integrity and transparency. By promoting clear governance, accessible communication, and a learning mindset, we ensure that compliance and ESG are not perceived as constraints, but as levers of trust, credibility and long-term performance.

Ultimately, the General Counsel must act as both a guardian and a facilitator — ensuring that the company not only meets its legal obligations but also lives up to its values.

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?

Artificial Intelligence has begun to transform the way we think about efficiency and value. We have initiated awareness and reflection sessions to understand both the potential and the limits of AI in legal work.

Our approach is cautious but open-minded: we explore use cases, evaluate risks, and consider the ethical implications of each step. The Legal team’s role is to frame innovation responsibly, ensuring that AI adoption — when it occurs — remains aligned with our company’s values, confidentiality requirements, and ethical standards.

For us, AI is less about disruption than about maturity: it challenges us to rethink our ways of working, to enhance analytical depth, and to focus human expertise where it matters most — judgment, strategy, and impact.