How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  

In times of instability or crisis, it is essential to take a proactive and strategic approach to managing legal aspects. This means identifying legal risks early and carefully monitoring the evolving situation and promptly identifying potential legal problems that may arise. 

Carefully evaluate your options: analyse the different legal solutions available and select the one that best aligns with your business objectives and minimises risks. 

Communicate effectively: maintain open and transparent communication with various stakeholders, both internal and external, providing regular updates on the situation and actions taken. 

Collaborate with other teams: collaborate closely with other business teams, such as the finance team, investor relations team and communications team, to ensure a cohesive approach to crisis management. 

To align your legal strategy with your broader business strategy, it is important to: 

Understand business objectives: have an in-depth understanding of the company’s strategic objectives to ensure legal activities are always aligned with and support those objectives. 

Collaborate with company leadership: collaborate closely with company leadership to discuss legal matters and develop legal strategies that support the company’s strategic direction. 

Keep management informed: provide management with regular updates on legal issues and potential risks that could affect the company. 

A proactive and strategic approach to managing legal matters during periods of instability or crisis can help protect the company from legal risks, safeguard its reputation and promote its resilience. 

How do you measure the impact of ESG initiatives on the company’s overall performance and reputation?  

There are several ways to measure the impact of ESG initiatives on a company’s performance and reputation: evaluate financial data — analyse metrics such as energy efficiency, waste generated, and water use to monitor the company’s environmental impact; measure employee satisfaction — conduct employee surveys to gauge their commitment and satisfaction with the company’s ESG initiatives; measure customer satisfaction through surveys and feedback or even ad hoc events; monitor media coverage— follow the company’s media coverage to assess how its ESG initiatives are perceived by the public and stakeholders; Evaluate the adequacy of corporate governance; Assess how compliant the company is with national and international regulations; and Evaluate ESG ratings — use ESG ratings provided by third-party agencies to evaluate the company’s performance against its peers in terms of environmental, social and governance factors. 

It is important to use a combination of these metrics to get a comprehensive assessment of the impact of your company’s ESG initiatives and beyond. To evaluate this factor, an analysis must be made of all the environmental, social and governance aspects of the company. 

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?  

In our company, we have enthusiastically embraced technological innovation to optimise efficiency and compliance. Here are some concrete examples: we are starting to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) systems in order to lead to a significant reduction in the time spent on routine legal tasks, freeing our lawyers to focus on more complex strategic matters. 

Document management and online collaboration: we are also implementing cloud-based document management platforms for secure and accessible centralisation of all legal data. This is to improve team collaboration and transparency, facilitating document search and retrieval. 

The impact of these technological innovations will be: 

Efficiency — significant reduction in time spent on legal activities, allowing greater ability to manage a higher number of cases and respond promptly to client needs. 

Compliance — greater accuracy and consistency in data management and the production of legal documents, reducing the risk of errors and non-compliance. 

Transparency and communication — improved internal and external communication, with greater visibility on the status of cases and easier access to information for clients and lawyers. 

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Italy over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?  

Over the next five years, Italian businesses will face several significant legal challenges: 

(i)Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain: the rapid evolution of these technologies raises new legal questions regarding privacy, data security, intellectual property and liability. 

(ii) Cybersecurity: the increase in cyber threats requires businesses to implement robust security measures to protect their data and systems. 

(iii) Environmental regulation: growing concerns about the environment will lead to a strengthening of environmental protection regulations, requiring businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. 

(iv) Legislative changes: the Italian legislative landscape is constantly evolving, with frequent changes that require companies to adapt promptly to avoid sanctions and disputes. 

To address these challenges, our legal team stays constantly updated on the latest legal developments and collaborates with experts in various fields to develop effective and proactive legal strategies. We also invest in the ongoing training of our lawyers to ensure they have the skills needed to handle the most complex legal challenges.