Legal manager | ARCH LATAM
Liliana Astorga
Legal manager | ARCH LATAM
How has your role as in-house counsel evolved over the past few years, particularly in response to shifting global or regional dynamics?
My role has evolved from a purely advisory function to one that is far more strategic. In a context marked by governmental instability, economic contraction and persistent informality, the legal department not only ensures regulatory compliance but also plays an active role in business decision-making. It contributes to enabling the company to operate with agility while maintaining a formal, competitive and ethical framework.
How do you build and maintain strong relationships with key internal stakeholders, especially in high-pressure or fast-moving scenarios?
Through closeness, trust and active listening, I establish clear and rapid communication channels with operations, sales and HR, prioritising concrete solutions to regulatory obstacles. In critical moments, I focus on providing agile responses that enable us to move forward without losing sight of compliance.
What do you consider the biggest challenge for in-house legal teams today, and how are you addressing it within your own team?
The toughest challenge is managing excessive labour regulation in an informal and evolving environment. We address this through constant updating, a practical approach, and direct engagement with the business. We encourage critical regulatory analysis and the development of solutions tailored to the field, while maintaining a solid legal foundation.
How do you cultivate legal talent internally, and what skills do you see as most essential for the next generation of in-house lawyers?
I foster a culture of continuous learning and multidisciplinary collaboration. Both my team and I must possess strategic thinking, effective communication skills, operational flexibility, and an understanding of the real economic environment. It is not enough to know the rules; one must know how to apply them in the business.
What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?
From the legal department, we promote the responsible execution of services, contractual traceability, and fair labour policies, even in the face of informal competition. We participate in designing practices that encourage labour inclusion, ethical compliance, and sustainable employee relations. Our role is to ensure that growth is legal, responsible, and has a positive impact on the social environment.
Alvaro Castro
Legal Senior Attorney
PepsiCo
How do you build and maintain strong relationships with key internal stakeholders, especially in high-pressure or fast-moving scenarios?
Trust is built on results, and the best results come from thorough planning. To build trust with my internal stakeholders, I encourage them to invite me to early project planning sessions where legal opinions are not obstacles but enablers for achieving the projects within the legal framework. Participating in these initial meetings also fosters transparency about timelines, helping stakeholders organise their work effectively. Teams appreciate this approach because it gives them a clear and realistic overview, allowing for flexibility and enabling them to align their KPIs with the overall objectives.
What do you consider the biggest challenge for in-house legal teams today, and how are you addressing it within your own team?
The biggest challenge for an in-house lawyer today, in my view, is twofold. Firstly, managing multiple legal matters that require knowledge across diverse fields, gathering essential information from external legal providers, and then translating it into language that internal clients can easily understand. Secondly, handling numerous urgent requests, where the key is to prioritise effectively. The only way to achieve this is through a deep understanding of the business operations, enabling decisions to be made in order of the value they add to the business’s development.
How do you cultivate legal talent internally, and what skills do you see as most essential for the next generation of in-house lawyers?
For the next generation of in-house lawyers, I believe the key skill is the ability to communicate legal concepts across disciplines. On a daily basis, in-house lawyers work with internal clients or stakeholders who, in most cases, are not lawyers and are unfamiliar with legal institutions or terminology. Therefore, it is essential to support better business performance by ensuring that messages or emails are written in simple, easy-to-understand language. Additionally, we must adapt and create presentations, training sessions, and documents that are sufficiently visual to be easily learned and understood by non-lawyers. The days of 60-page reports and text-heavy PowerPoint slides are over. What the business needs are visual and executive elements, and that is the skill to develop and the mindset to cultivate new talent.
