Legal counsel | Philip Morris International
Patricia Magalhães
Legal counsel | Philip Morris International
Could you tell us a bit about your significant successes in your role?
At PMI, we believe that being a true business partner is key to enable sound business decisions; providing best-in-class legal advice and handling matters with excellence and integrity is our northern star daily. We believe that an organization cognizant of the legal framework where we operate, provided with clear and actionable guidelines, is more capable of identifying legal risks upfront, thus becoming a more efficient organization and we strive to build common grounds to successfully achieve this goal in our day-to-day interactions.
In your opinion, what are the qualities and skills needed to form a strong legal team?
A cohesive and collaborative team that intimately understands the business, the organization and the business strategies and priorities is in the best position to provide the most appropriate legal support. Also, legal teams need to embrace a culture of continuous learning and development, anticipating legal issues and positioning itself at the forefront of new challenges and trends, particularly in what regards the regulatory environment, which is increasingly complex.
What is the biggest risk to your industry, and how are you contributing to prepare your organisation for this?
In a company that made the decision to transform itself and to drive the transformation of the industry from inside, in an innovative and bold attitude, the legal team must play a leading role, by guiding this change with confidence, even when this means operating in a volatile and uncertain environment.
What challenges have you overcome to get to the position you are in today?
Swiftly adjusting ourselves in a fast-paced and continuously evolving business and regulatory environment is of paramount importance and requires persistent focus; being able to consider all relevant angles of each matter and its potential impacts, with a 360.º view, without losing ourselves in detail is equally important.