First, can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently?

Our team provides legal support to all company units (business related and otherwise) in a plethora of law areas. Additionally, the team advises on customers, or third parties’ claims, when they have a legal component, including judicial and extrajudicial activities and representing the company before governmental bodies.

The position of general counsel also entails responsibility over regulatory matters, including representing the company before the regulatory body and providing support to the compliance area in managing the risk associated with said function. In addition, the team oversees corporate governance. The secretary general participates in all of the company’s corporate bodies and committees.

To name one relevant project the area had recently been involved, the legal team, in conjunction with a multi-disciplinary team, launched the first 100% digital insurance product in the market. This product has the advantage of providing insurance coverage for rent in 24 hours, which is a highly demanded feature that was not previously attended by any other company in Uruguay.

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why?

Without a glimmer of a doubt, I will say the Mapfre’s Foundation, in which I occupy the position as general counsel, is a cause that I care about. From the foundation, we aim to carry out a wide range of activities around the world that have a common goal: our responsible commitment to society. Part of my responsibility in this role is the overseeing of all legal documents executed by the foundation and providing legal counselling on all areas of activity. As a recent cause, I would like to highlight the foundation’s efforts to mitigate Covid-19 impact on a global level. Specifically in Uruguay, the foundation made a significant monetary contribution to the health system and, in the midst of the pandemic, also donated two fully equipped mobile ambulances to the State Health Services Administration for them to be allocated to geographic areas that did not have one before.

What can law firms do to improve their service to the legal department?

An aspect I consider relevant, and it might have some room for improvement, is enhancing the efforts to maintain a close relationship with the in-house lawyers they are working with. In that way, it is more feasible to keep the external counsel updated on the business activities of the company and, as corollary, external counsel have more tools in their toolbox to provide better quality services which are targeted to the client needs. In our case, we are very satisfied with the law firms we had engaged with as they have been increasingly emphasised these aspects, which is noticeable on a day-to-day basis