Since 2010, Eleni Stathaki has headed the legal function of Upstream, a leading mobile commerce company in high-growth and developing markets. Since joining Upstream as sole the in-house counsel with a limited role of drafting commercial contracts and managing outside counsel, her role has significantly changed.

She explains that ‘as the company grew, the role became much broader and I was involved in everything from major corporate transactions to advising on legal implications of strategic products to setting up the compliance function. I achieved this by taking an interest in the company operations and processes even if they were outside of my job description and scope of work, and offering to help’. One recent major transaction Stathaki assisted on was a growth financing by the European Investment Bank in February 2017 worth €25m. Prior to Upstream, Stathaki spent three years as in-house counsel at shopping centre developer Sierra Property Management covering a full range of contractual, litigation, compliance project finance related matters. Before that she was in the legal team of construction company Aegek between 2002 and 2007, enjoying a four month spell as an intern at Hogan Lovells in 2006 as part of the law firm’s European Young Lawyers Scheme.

Reflecting on her in-house career, Stathaki had the following to say: ‘What moulded me as a professional are the day-to-day tasks that I have had to advise on, manage and resolve. Through dealing with everyday matters, I learnt that no task is too small and that the devil is in the details. I further realised that each task is dealt with efficiently and in a practical manner without compromising on quality and that this is one of the greatest contributions an in-house counsel can make’. Before beginning her in-house career in 2002, Stathaki enjoyed stints at law firms Manolis Eglezos & Associates Law and Nikos Papachronopoulos & Partners Law Office. She obtained her law degree in 1998 as well as a diploma of postgraduate studies in civil law from the University of Athens in 2001.