Can you please give us an idea of the work your team has done recently?

In 2021, we refinanced an important loan we had in place with a syndicate of two banks. Now, only one bank has control over the loan, which has been syndicated with another bank, different to the previous one. The guarantee involves more than 500 commercial space units and it occurred after six months of negotiating with the original banks.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

Most lawyers are legally oriented and not business oriented. A lawyer that wants to be part of an in-house team and lead such a team must understand financials. There is no such thing as an in-house counsel that does not understand the impact of legal actions on the cash flow and financials of the company. They also need to be business oriented because it is evident in companies where in-house counsel fails to interact with other areas. A proactive approach is also necessary, in-house counsel must endeavour to get involved with business deals to clearly understand the needs of the parties and accurately reflect them in documents that will arise from the transaction. They should also be able to propose a minimum of two different options to achieve results. An MBA, financial or project management education will become a requirement soon for all in-house counsel leading teams.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

There is no such thing as a recipe for building strong relationships. Having straight forward, honest relations with all stakeholders involved with the legal team builds a net of trusted advisors. Establishing relationships with external counsel is also important because many things will happen through them. There is no use viewing them as opposition who charge generally higher rates, as opposed to in-house counsel fixed income. When the unique roles and perspectives of each counsel are understood, in-house counsel can get the most out of the relationship for the company.