Team size: 13

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Our last major transaction involved the acquisition of a majority stake in an energy service provider for mobile heating and cooling solutions. Here we strengthened an already existing portfolio by adding a further subsidiary and were thus able to create synergy effects for the Mainova Group. Owner-managed medium-sized companies can be challenging in M&A deals, as both the interests of the long-standing owners and those of the group itself must be reconciled. The legal intricacies at this point were particularly enjoyable and resulted in a very satisfactory outcome for all parties.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

As a legal department, we have the privilege of being able to do the work for the Mainova Group from home without any cutbacks, which is not easily possible for many specialist departments in our group. In my view, however, the legal department is one of the most important strategic partners for management and many committees can only do excellent work if it has a certain degree of presence. Sometimes it is only through personal encounters that deep-seated problems can be solved, or the best and most efficient negotiation results achieved. We are proud that we have always succeeded in this balancing act, even in the worst pandemic times. In the present or for the future, I see a hybrid model for legal areas as the most sensible or effective. In my view, human encounters will always remain a must for successful cooperation. But the ability to work flexibly from home will always be an important factor for in-house counselling, especially in order to maintain a good balance between professional and private life.

How much influence do you, as a general counsel, have on the diversity and inclusion policies of your organisation?

Particularly as a compliance department, we have a great deal of influence on these issues. Mainova is a great pioneer, especially in the area of diversity, and this is also firmly anchored in our group-wide code of conduct. As far as my team is concerned, I am particularly proud to be able to say that we embody cultures and languages from many different countries, in addition to employees with a German background, of course, this includes people with backgrounds from Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, China, Poland, and Czech Republic, and that with just 13 people. In all diversity and inclusion issues, our legal department is always called upon as one of the first and most important providers of ideas and measures, from management to the specialist department.