In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

The role of in-house lawyers in Latin America is to understand and apply new regulatory changes as quickly as possible. While promoting regulatory changes to help our company to navigate their ways of doing business more effectively, we constantly interacted with the local authorities via controlled experimentation spaces such as regulatory sandboxes. In-house counsel are required to have a multidisciplinary approach and a broad knowledge of different topics, including analytics and innovative technologies, not only for business purposes but also for team management, auditing, and reporting. Data analytics and AI will play a prominent role in the in-house function of their operations in the virtual environment.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

Automation technologies for reviewing and drafting contracts will change how in-house lawyers do their daily job. The emerging efforts for contract standardisation will facilitate the use of AI to review contracts, making the job of the in-house lawyer more efficient and easier. Thanks to contract automation, in-house lawyers will be able to leave aside the operational tasks-which can even move out of the legal department- and concentrate on strategising and improving the internal client experience. Metaverse would not change how we interact with the team or our internal clients. However, it will bring some jurisdictional changes for intellectual property rights, which in-house counsel must be aware of.

If you had to give advice to an aspiring in-house lawyer or general counsel, what would it be and why?

Never stop learning. Law and regulation are not only changing quickly, but also, it is getting more complicated. Knowing about one specific area of law or focusing merely on the legal principle itself will not be enough. Try to learn about topics and disciplines outside the law; learn about leadership, management, and communication. Soft skills are as essential as technical knowledge.