Team size: 12

How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact?

My team is fully embedded in the business and recognised as a trusted business partner. Most team members are part of the business leadership teams for their respective areas and therefore also assume commercial responsibility. We do not focus solely on legal and compliance aspects; rather, we always keep the business objectives in mind and advise accordingly.

For every project we handle, we ensure that legal and compliance requirements are met while also delivering the best possible commercial outcome. We work proactively with stakeholders to balance risk and opportunity, ensuring that legal solutions enable growth rather than impede it.

In preparing the rollout of a new Compliance Management System, we took the opportunity to map and critically review our existing processes. Wherever possible, we simplified and accelerated procedures while simultaneously raising the overall level of compliance. We measure success by both effective risk mitigation and commercial impact.

Looking forward, what trends do you foresee in the legal landscape over the next 5–10 years that companies should prepare for?

Over the next 5–10 years, German in-house legal teams should prepare for stronger regulatory scrutiny (EU digital, AI, sustainability rules), growing compliance complexity, and increased enforcement. Legal departments will need more tech (contract automation, AI tools) and data-protection expertise, closer integration with ESG and risk functions, and upskilling in regulatory strategy. Equally important are business understanding and people skills to grasp problems and craft commercially sensible solutions; AI will impact legal work but cannot replace these human abilities. In view of the growing political and economic instability, it is ultimately crucial that legal departments demonstrate the required flexibility and resilience in order to cope as effectively as possible with short-term changes.