Could you tell us a bit about your significant successes in your role?

As deputy director of legal and compliance at Luz Saúde, I was able to closely monitor all the major challenges, projects, as well as the strong growth of the group that has taken place in recent years. I had the opportunity to actively participate in transactions in: (i) capital markets, namely the IPO of Luz Saúde in 2014; (ii) M&A, in the purchase of hospitals and clinics; (iii) and in the real estate area. At the same time, and more recently, I have also dedicated special attention to the Compliance area, in order to adapt the Group to the growing demands of a global society, providing greater value to the services provided by the Luz Saúde Group. In my role as an in-house lawyer, I inherently have special knowledge of the sector in which the Luz Saúde Group operates, being close to corporate decision-making centres. From my perspective, these are determining factors for the success of the role of a company lawyer. The distinguishing factor in my role is to ensure that all activities of the Luz Saúde Group, as well as the implementation of its new projects, are carried out within a framework of full knowledge and adequate management of legal and Compliance risk, to convey full confidence to all its stakeholders.

In your opinion, what are the qualities and skills needed to form a strong legal team?

To form and maintain a strong legal department, more important than technical skills, the soft skills of team spirit, leadership, integrity and humility are fundamental. It is necessary to be able to manage the team through example and not through authority, instilling a sense of responsibility but not individuality. It is essential to foster the feeling of belonging to a group that shares the same values ​​and where you will find support and understanding in the various aspects of your life: the professional, naturally, but not neglecting the personal aspect as well. It is also essential to create the conditions for each member of the team to follow their path of professional growth in the areas with which they most identify and where they feel they can bring greater value to the group.

What is the biggest risk to your industry/organisation and how are you contributing to prepare your organisation for this?

In general terms, one of the major challenges facing companies now is to remain compliant in a constantly changing legislative framework that is increasingly demanding and intrusive on private economic initiative and, perhaps even, inappropriate for the national reality. To face this challenge, I have contributed to the development of the compliance function, to ensure that the organization prevents, detects and/or corrects, in the most effective and efficient way possible, its compliance risks.

What challenges have you overcome to get to the position you are in today?

As an in-house lawyer, it is not enough to have in-depth legal knowledge in each area of ​​practice. In addition to knowing the specificities and way of functioning of the sector in which our company operates, it is necessary to have a good overview of the different areas of law to be able to detect possible legal risks in our daily practice and, eventually, request specialized support to law firms when needed. The great challenge in my role was to acquire and maintain this knowledge, but mainly to update it, given the emergence, in recent times, of legislation on matters hitherto not legislated (or legislated with less development) – areas of data protection, Whistleblowing, corruption prevention, cybersecurity and other areas of the digital age we live in.

Another major challenge, this one of an interpersonal nature and which I believe is common to any corporate lawyer, involves being able to assert one’s skills and gain credibility within the organization, especially within its decision-making centres, to retain the necessary empowerment for the exercise full and effective performance of its functions.