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

Most challenging recent experiences include: (i) the legal structuring of new agri-business areas in the Group, (ii) setting, drafting and recommending sustainable corporate governance tools and practises required not only by soft law but also by hard law (codes of conduct, anti-corruption policies, rules and regulations, procedures for transaction with related parties), and (iii) to prepare for the Group’s entry in new markets.

In the last years, sustainable finance and sustainable corporate governance become a leitmotiv for European and national regulation requiring a particular focus from the legal side.

Pressure from Anti-trust authorities grew exponentially in Portugal and Poland, requiring much attention from the legal departments not only in dealing with existing proceedings but also in anticipating new streams of conflict.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

Your external law firms are an extension of your internal legal function; therefore, alignment on values is paramount. This alignment must start with standard principles of integrity. However, the in-house lawyer cannot ignore the company’s environmental, social, and governance goals in selecting external legal counsel. The alignment will help build strong relationships with outside counsel and promote mutual understanding and high-quality work.

The unusual business environment created by the pandemic has been swiftly followed by other shocks. Are you now putting more emphasis on preparing for the unforeseen and, if so, what does this entail?

The pandemic has significantly changed where and how in-house lawyers work. Remote work become the new normal. Lawyers’ traditional reluctance to deal with technology softened as time passed and the pandemic persisted. On the other side, in-house lawyers needed to find new ways to deal with the pressure of a constantly changing legal environment. This served not only for the pandemic context but also for subsequent (and future) challenges, like the impact of war in Ukraine.