About

Spain is a key market for L’Oréal, and one that posted strong figures in 2016, with growth accelerating in the country. Javier López Zafra, general counsel, secretary of the board and public affairs director, is the most senior lawyer for L’Oréal in Spain, and oversees a team of five lawyers with expansion likely in the near future. In terms of innovation, López describes how the team has ‘improved procedures for retail and e-commerce activities management and implemented best advertising practices according with industry self-regulation codes’. The team has also had a positive effect on the company’s bottom line by ‘defending the way we claim our sun protection products in line with our R&D outstanding outcomes, resulting in higher protection and profitable performance for final consumers’. The team prizes an ever more economical approach to their legal work, prizing ‘simplicity’ above all else. López explains that ‘this means cooperation instead of confrontation, empowerment, test and learn and consumer-centricity’ at all times. He also has high praise for the rest of his team, with senior counsel Isabel Abella coming in for particular acclaim. ‘She is in charge of the daily management of the team’, López explains, ‘and is empathic with the rest of the organisation and contributes to the business leverage of the legal function’. Alongside all this, the L’Oréal España legal team remains ‘absolutely aligned’ with the senior management of the company, retaining a high degree of cooperation that serves the company well.