Team size: six 

How do you manage legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis, and how does your legal strategy align with the overall business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

Given the rigidity of the regulations and the unpredictable nature of a crisis, creativity and flexibility within the legal team are essential. Thinking outside the box and maintaining constant monitoring with a cohesive team is the best strategy. 

CAINCO deals with issues from all sectors, facing situations that many lawyers only encounter as a specialty throughout their careers. This has made our legal team dynamic and ready to tackle anything. 

What measures has your company taken to incorporate sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to promoting and ensuring sustainable practices within the company? 

CAINCO has a dedicated management team for promoting sustainability, highlighted by the creation of FUNDARES (Foundation focused on Energy, Recycling, and Sustainability), which our legal team is proud to support. In this sense, sustainability is part of our DNA. 

What emerging technologies do you believe will have the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments? 

We have incorporated artificial intelligence into some of our legal operations, such as developing our monthly regulatory compendium, and we are working on a bot focused on addressing frequently asked questions for our members. The institution has an innovation management team dedicated to developing these tools. 

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?  

Inclusion is one of CAINCO’s core values, with more than 60% of our team being women. Our participation in programmes from the IDB, ICC, CIAC, and others focused on gender, equality, and inclusion is a precise metric of our commitment. 

Can you comment on a particularly challenging dispute or M&A scenario you have faced and the innovative strategies you implemented to address it? 

Among my responsibilities is overseeing the CAINCO Centre for Commercial Mediation and Arbitration (CCAC). Through CCAC, we have been involved in interesting and complex cases, from the separation of partners in a commercial company to compensation for operations in joint ventures. One of the most intriguing disputes I have been involved in stemmed from a union conflict, where members of a transport union blocked access to an industrial plant for non-affiliated carriers, aiming to establish a monopoly on cargo and set prices above the market. 

We worked on a conciliatory solution with the company’s legal team, ending a cycle of conflict that had escalated to physical violence between union members and independent carriers.  

The negotiation resolved the conflict, creating a collaborative working environment between the carriers and the company that has endured and become a model of a win-win situation. This confirmed the adage that a bad settlement is better than a good fight, with the caveat that this was a virtuous agreement for both parties. 

In your opinion, what are the main trends currently relevant in your country (legal, political, economic, or business)? 

The situation with foreign currencies in the country has created an area of uncertainty with legal, political, economic, and especially business ramifications. Lawyers are the first line of defence for companies in facing atypical situations, and now more than ever, we must address these situations holistically, seeking creative solutions that are within the regulatory framework, quickly implementable, and easily adaptable.