Team size: Four

What considerations guide your decision to engage external counsel versus managing matters internally, and how do you assess the value or performance of those external providers?

At Blue Elephant, we try to cover all essential areas of legal support in-house first. However, we seek support of external experts for specialised topics, such as the regulatory framework relating to the ownership or acquisition of critical infrastructure, or in connection with larger transactions or topics that are new to us and the industry. When we outsource tasks to external legal advisors, it is of utmost importance to us as a legal department that we can rely on the advice provided.

That is why it is important for us to have a reliable and experienced partner in every area. After quality, fast execution and responsiveness are essential in the fast-paced environment of project development business, but probably even more so during M&A projects. Therefore, when selecting external counsel, we also pay close attention to the (time) resilience of our advisors, depending on the project and task. Finally, we must keep an eye on budget, so smart solutions and cost-effective use of technology is always welcome.