Spotlight on: My Career

I am a corporate attorney registered with the Athens Bar Association, boasting over 15 years of in-house legal counsel experience. My extensive expertise spans the management of legal and regulatory issues, addressing all aspects and operational needs of business functions in large-scale, multi-regional projects. Recently, I was honoured with a gold industry award as one of the most influential in-house counsels in Greece, driving the Retail, Consumer, and TMT industries with my legal and operational expertise at the Business Law Awards 2024.

Currently, I serve as the Director of Legal Services at Public Group, part of the Olympia Group. Public Group is an ecosystem of innovative scale-ups centred around its flagship omnichannel retail businesses in Greece and Cyprus, under the well-recognised brands Public and Public +Home (formerly MediaMarkt). With sales exceeding €500 million, 61 physical locations, and 4 online stores, I lead the in-house legal department in Greece and Cyprus. I manage a team of four attorneys, providing comprehensive executive management support and business legal counselling, ensuring compliance with all applicable laws.

Before becoming Legal Director in 2019, I was Senior Legal Counsel to Olympia Group, associated with the Panos Germanos family interests. In this role, I was instrumental in negotiating and implementing the Group’s legal strategy, handling corporate issues such as acquisitions, franchise agreements, lease agreements, supply agreements, company incorporations, and real estate transactions. I successfully negotiated complex multi-million euro deals involving asset purchases and real estate properties, supporting the Group’s day-to-day legal operations and statutory requirements both in Greece and abroad, including the Panos Germanos Family Office portfolio.

Before joining Olympia Group, I worked for several renowned law firms, including Norton Rose Fulbright in Athens, specialising in corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate financing, energy, and real estate projects.

I hold an LL.B. from the University of Athens, an LL.M. with distinction in International Commercial Law from City University of London, an MSc in Law and Accounting from the London School of Economics, and an executive customised MBA from ALBA Graduate Business School. Additional skills and qualifications can be found in my attached CV.

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?

Effectively managing legal aspects during times of instability or crises requires a proactive, flexible, and cohesive approach. In-house counsels nowadays are much more than just interpreters of the black letter of the law. First and foremost, they deliver inherent value and clarity on business strategy, legal compliance, and proactive risk management. They are also instrumental in driving the company towards its mission and overall objectives. To this end, it is essential that the legal strategy is integrated into the broader business strategy. This means that legal counsels must work closely with business leaders to understand the company’s strategic goals and ensure that legal decisions support these objectives.

With this understanding, my initial focus is on clearly identifying and prioritising the issues that demand the legal team’s attention. Effective prioritisation is crucial for guiding team leaders in directing their members efficiently.

In times of crisis, business strategies often shift rapidly. The legal team should be agile, adapting quickly to changes in business priorities—whether it’s renegotiating contracts, addressing employment law issues, or navigating regulatory changes that could impact the business, such as emergency government measures or industry standards changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we foster strong communication channels between the legal department and other business units through regular meetings to address urgent concerns and offer real-time legal guidance to senior management and other key stakeholders. This ensures that legal considerations are part of decision-making processes at all levels and, equally importantly, that decisions are legally sound and aligned with the company’s long-term objectives. Lastly, I always ensure that the legal strategy upholds the highest ethical standards, even in challenging situations. This strengthens the organisation’s values and enhances long-term trust and reputation.

In short, a successful legal strategy should be tightly integrated with the overall business strategy to ensure the company not only navigates the crisis but also emerges more robust. This alignment is crucial for protecting the organisation’s assets, maintaining compliance, mitigating risks, and ultimately ensuring resilience in the face of uncertainty.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

The legal profession is on the brink of significant transformation due to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation. For example, utilising chatbots, automated workflows, and tools for contracting can streamline contract drafting, review, and management by automatically identifying key terms, potential risks, and ensuring compliance with regulations. Thus, AI can process vast amounts of data at speeds unattainable by humans, providing valuable insights and freeing lawyers from time-consuming tasks, thereby enhancing operational efficiency. By refining our work processes, we can allocate more time to innovation and focus on complex, strategic tasks, ensuring that the business receives the attention it deserves, rather than being bogged down by low-priority tasks. To effectively navigate this shift, staying updated is crucial. Participating in legal tech conferences, subscribing to relevant publications, and engaging with online communities can offer valuable insights and networking opportunities.