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

The three or four contracts that have affected the company a lot, and I imagine also other companies in the same area of ​​television, are the distribution contracts with the various market distributors, which have amounts in the millions and which, as they involve very sensitive issues, whether it be positioning in the market, or competition issues, or above all the question of price, these are negotiations that take a long time. Some of these agreements or contracts began to be worked on shortly after I joined the Impresa group and have not yet been concluded, as the contracts are still being negotiated, which demonstrates the number of hours that have been dedicated to these processes. These are perhaps the most complex cases with a technological component, an important area at Impresa, as the truth is that the company has a whole world of materials that need to be monitored.

Additionally, we also have other current follow-up cases, which are also quite complex, especially when tackling our relationship with ERC, that all procedures are carried out in accordance with the regulations, with all the precautions that we must have, considering the associated risks. In this matter, the legal department always has the difficult role of, on the one hand, not making the business unfeasible, because in the media area we depend a lot on foreign investment, and on the other hand having the perfect notion that we have the law that is quite clear, in which the ERC has been very attentive, giving us a series of current matters that we cannot quantify in millions but the truth is that they are not very complex matters that require a very specific assessment, which also includes the mitigation of risks with the regulatory authority . Deep down, this is what media companies experience a little bit on a day-to-day basis. 

Perhaps the most mediatic case was the major cyber-attack, in January 2022, which damaged us a lot because we were all in a panic, including the administrators, because the whole situation was not only very fast but also new for all of us. There is more and more talk about cybersecurity, but the truth is that people are only alert when things happen and the legal department had to be very present, not only in the criminal process that is still ongoing, but also in the process of reconstruction, whether of contracts, company procedures, creating new codes of conduct, among others. The operational areas that lost access to many of the systems had to reformulate them and the legal department had to accompany this work. Deep down, our department has been focused on several subjects that have given us a lot of work, demanding not only a great effort but also some personal sacrifice.

Lastly, we currently have a court case, in which GDA – an intellectual property rights organisation, brought an action against our television group, SIC, in which there was a misalignment regarding the amounts that would be paid – around 9 million euros – a very complex and time-consuming process, although we are using an external law firm for legal support. 

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team? 

At Impresa, we finally have the development of a platform on which we will manage internal orders. The various areas place requests on the platform, we receive them and respond (not invalidating the use of email). For me, this order management platform is very much desired, as we will be able to manage more comprehensively the number of orders we have, improve contract management, and we will have all the information compiled in a single database and very easy to access. I think it will be the greatest revolution within the company. We are very happy, as it was something that we missed a lot within the legal department.

Another issue that I would like to address and in which we are still not well adapted, would be the introduction of an improved tool for managing files, because with digitised old contracts and other documentation that we take a long time to find, we have greater difficulty in organising and thus become less efficient. I think that a technological platform associated with this issue should be introduced. A technological platform that made it possible to consult a subject or contract, and know which were all the contracts that were associated with it, would help not only the legal department but also the other areas that wanted to renew or just consult. 

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

I believe it’s inevitable that legal departments will continue to have a greater impact on the strategic and executive decisions of their companies. At Impresa, we have a very close relationship with the board and with the various directors, with a great ease of contact between parties, which I believe that’s essential so guarantee we are not running the risk of having management design a project and then, at the end, they reach out to the legal team and we tell them that it’s not executable. As soon as the administration has a project in mind, the legal department is contacted to take an active part in its conception. It has happened many times, not as many as I would like, as some areas that take the initiative to design projects and then take them to the administration, have the very first impulse to do it on their own and forget the need for the legal area. Sometimes, this puts us in a very ungrateful position, as we don’t want to be the ones holding back the business, but the truth is that in this industry we are highly regulated. An even greater presence of the legal department in the executive action of any company will be required.