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One of the particular challenges in Sonja Hilge’s role at Merck is the particular ‘mix of globally operating DAX30 company and Darmstadt-based family business’, a combination that ensures ‘exciting legal challenges’. Merck has 38,000 employees, 9,000 just in Darmstadt, and operates in 66 countries worldwide through its 191 subsidiaries. Part of Hilge’s responsibility is also providing strategic M&A project advice. A particular success has been her finance-related work, with one highlight being a €15bn debt issuance programme. It is therefore a continuous challenge to ‘thoroughly handle several ongoing large scale projects next to the day to day business’. Law firms should ‘focus on practical aspects’ and have a clear understanding of the fact that ‘law firm and in-house team are in the same boat’.