What are the most significant cases, projects, or transactions that you and your legal team have recently been involved in?

As members of a team spread across six different jurisdictions, our greatest challenge is to coordinate central policies with constantly evolving regulatory updates, both in terms of compliance and the development of our business activities. The most challenging tasks in Italy have been managing the insolvency of a major counterparty – both strategically and from a strictly legal perspective – as well as developing renewable energy projects within a complex and constantly changing regulatory environment.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Legal matters within a multi-jurisdictional company must always be managed with clarity and foresight. What is required is to assess the interests of shareholders and the needs of the operational teams so as to ensure that the latter can continue to work as productively as possible. What is required is always a careful analysis of the applicable legislation, including in conjunction with company policies, so that the scope for corrective action can then be assessed where necessary.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

I believe that one of the key qualities is flexibility. Always within the limits of what is permitted under current legislation, the role of the in-house counsel is to support other business functions as much as possible, to train them and to enable them to carry out their duties as independently as possible, under the supervision of the legal department.

Another characteristic is a modern approach. Although it is not always easy to change one’s perspective, AI is a valuable tool for an in-house lawyer because it helps them provide feedback more quickly without compromising the quality of their work.