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?

The legal team’s priority is to act as a business partner and service provider for everyone within the organisation involved in the implementation of the organisation’s strategy. Our strategy is to provide added value for the organisation through pragmatic, efficient, and hands-on advice and service. An organisation is (legally) resilient if and when it is able to ensure stability in terms of procurement and flexibility in terms of cost adjustment when the geopolitical circumstances require an adaptation of the (legal) framework. It is the legal team’s job to ensure that contracts and legal documents achieve these goals.

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

In 2023 and 2024, we handled several cross-border acquisitions of businesses active in the same business area as our company. After the building of new business divisions in previous years, our focus was to strengthen and consolidate our position in our core areas of activity and core markets. The M&A transaction documents as well as the M&A and integration processes were mostly handled in-house by the team.
Apart from our M&A activities, we were involved in the negotiation of several strategic and complex B2B projects where our organisation acts either as a supplier for or customer of a business partner.In addition, given the increasing regulation at national and European levels, we were heavily involved in the implementation of the Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains and the EU Deforestation Regulation.

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

We have integrated several legal tech tools into our legal processes. The most relevant of these are designed to enable the business to create standardised contracts with just a few clicks. These tools have had a significant impact on both the team’s and the company’s efficiency and compliance. By allowing standardised transactions to be drafted by the business itself, resources can be allocated to more complex matters that require specialised legal expertise.
Furthermore, the design of these legal tech tools ensures that the drafts reflect the necessary legal framework for each specific transaction. This helps to reduce risks and ensures legal compliance, as the tools automatically incorporate the relevant legal provisions. This integration of technology has streamlined the process, reducing the time spent on routine tasks, while also improving accuracy and consistency across the organisation.

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

The work of corporate legal departments will increasingly be shaped by the growing emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulations, the continued reliance on legal tech tools, and, most importantly, the economic pressures resulting from ongoing geopolitical tensions. Businesses in Germany will need to ensure economic flexibility in light of geopolitical uncertainties and unknowns. The major legal challenge will be to ensure that the legal framework provides sufficient flexibility when required.