Team size: Five

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

In 2022, leaving the health emergency behind and returning to normality was quite a challenge. This was a slow process in our country since it always depended on the health authorities. The business to which I give advice to is concerned with energy — fuels and hydrocarbons at the wholesale and retail level —and this was not suspended at any time. It turned out to be challenging to handle the issue of human resources, the risk groups established by the health authority and the rules of coexistence with the virus.

Also related to HR in our country, in February 2022, a regulation was promulgated referring to the prohibition of outsourcing of activities that are the core of the business of companies, centralised mainly in the corporate purpose of legal persons. This norm deserved the analysis, criticism and solution proposal, and defences of many experts in labour law that monopolised the first pages of interest of the legal magazines and the comments and editorials of the websites of the most prestigious legal studies until August 2022, when the norm would enter into force. However, this regulation, which the executive power did not correctly evaluate, only remained a regulated risk since the amparo actions, Popular Actions and Complaints for Bureaucratic Barriers before INDECOPI (Competition and Intellectual Property Regulatory Body) ended up agreeing with the companies in the media, accepting precautionary measures that prevented the inspection of the labour supervision body against companies that were carrying out labour outsourcing. The issue has not ended yet, but I can assure you that many regulations of a labour nature in the country tend to be of a widespread nature rather than thinking about the country’s success in an integral way.

Looking ahead, what technological advances do you think will most affect the role of in-house legal teams in the future?

Nowadays, there is much talk about the so-called artificial intelligence. We are facing another change very similar to the one that occurred with the first, second and third industrial revolutions since the latter generalised the computer use. Now there is the technological tsunami, referred to the application of new technologies such as the one I quote in the introductory part of this paragraph.

This technological advancement will allow lawyers to compete conceptually and strategically with technology. Indeed, the recommendations given through technology will question the opinion of lawyers when advising their companies. However, since all activities in the world are regulated, it will not be long before artificial intelligence will be subjected to adequate legislation.

Artificial intelligence can provide alternative strategies to entrepreneurs, but true entrepreneurs will use their criteria and experience gained throughout their lives to run their companies.