General counsel, Portugal | L'Oréal
Dorothée Choussy Serzedelo
General counsel, Portugal | L'Oréal
Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal and Spain
What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?
Recently, our focus has been on defending brand equity and preserving the integrity of the selective distribution network across Spain and Portugal.
As the legal lead for selective distribution law in both jurisdictions, I have driven a coordinated and proactive approach to tackling the grey market and unauthorised sales channels. This has included establishing a dedicated legal task force to identify and address the resale of selective products by unauthorised sellers, as well as implementing robust monitoring and escalation processes. Through the use of buy-back mechanisms and tracking tools, we have been able to effectively target non-compliant online sellers and marketplaces.
At the same time, we have reinforced the contractual framework underpinning the network, ensuring that all Selective Distribution Agreements – both online and offline – are fully executed and properly archived, while also preparing for litigation where necessary.
This structured and forward-looking approach has led to a significant reduction in product leakage and has materially strengthened the integrity and control of our selective distribution networks.
How has the role of the legal function evolved within your organisation over recent years, and where do you see it adding the most strategic value today?
The legal function at L’Oréal has evolved from a traditional risk-mitigation advisor into a proactive, data-driven strategic business partner integrated directly into commercial decisions. By finding the right partners, we can leverage our knowledge and objectives to concrete efficient solutions or automated processes to ultimately add more value to the company.
In what ways has technology or process innovation changed how your legal team operates?
Technology and process innovation is profoundly changing the way the legal department operates. By leveraging both internal and external automated digital tools we became a data driven team and managed to reduce some manual workload, to accelerate response times and make data-driven decisions. These innovations have potential to free our team from administrative burdens, allowing us to act as a faster, more agile, and highly strategic partner to our business divisions.
