Team size: +200

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?

Managing legal aspects during periods of instability and crisis is all about resilience, confidence and a ‘can-do’ attitude. Providing safety and security for all team members, as well as executing a well-aligned vision, mission and strategy in a disciplined fashion, are the cornerstones. The Legal Team of BVG Group, Germany’s largest and Europe’s third-largest public transport company, has a clear strategy of ‘Business Partnering’, where all in-house lawyers focus on being a solution-oriented, pragmatic and ‘no-nonsense’ advocate of the business interests of all group companies and functions. This strategy has been executed in 2024 by insourcing legal resources (20% increase in the team’s size YTD), minimising external legal spend (50% decrease YTD) and investing time, money and resources in legal tech (collaboration with Consalio, Noxtua/Xayn, Libra, Goyaa and Fides). The vision of BVG’s C-suite is ‘digital first & fast’, and the Legal Team is a frontrunner and role model. The Legal Team was recently shortlisted for ‘The Most Innovative In-House Legal Department 2024’ award in Germany (note: we will learn on 5 December whether we came in 3rd, 2nd or 1st). The legal strategy is well aligned with the broader business strategy through interdisciplinary teamwork across organisational levels. BVG’s Legal Team has been moving from the back to the front office, with the Chief Legal Officer reporting directly to the CEO. BVG is undergoing a business transformation to increase operational efficiency and performance. BVG’s Legal Team is the trusted guardian and guide to drive and facilitate the transformation’s objectives and key results in the coming years.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?

The recent main cases and transactions range from developing a new customer app to infrastructure projects, multi-billion public procurements, dispute resolution processes in the construction and rail industry, and cloud migration and other digitalisation projects.

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

BVG’s Legal Department rigorously pursues the C-suite’s strategy: ‘Digital first and fast’. The Legal Team collaborates with various legal tech providers, including but not limited to Consalio (legal spend management software), Noxtua/Xayn (Germany’s first ‘Legal Large Language Model’), Goyaa (Legal Department Software based on Microsoft 365) and Fides (board & legal entity management), as well as Icertis and LEDOX365 (contract lifecycle management software). The objective is to use technology as a Legal Assistant across the board and to be an ‘early adopter’ of technology (rather than a ‘lame duck’).

What role does the legal department play in promoting and ensuring corporate social responsibility in your organisation?

For BVG, as a public law company, CSR plays a major strategic role. We are at the forefront of the mobility transition, giving our customers a variety of options—beyond the privately owned car—to move from A to B in the city of Berlin, Germany’s vibrant capital. We in the Legal Department are actively involved in decarbonising our fleet, testing driverless subways, trams and buses in light of the demographic tide and shortage of skilled workers, as well as incorporating CSR criteria in the multi-billion public procurement processes per year. The Legal Department not only has dedicated resources to legally advise on all CSR matters at BVG (including regulatory CSR reporting requirements in BVG’s annual accounts as of 2025), but also supports all ESG- and CSR-related matters of the BVG Group, ranging from construction, procurement, and finance/controlling.