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

This year the team handled the due diligence to acquire two wind farms in preliminary stages of development of approx. 408 MW of installed capacity in the south of Chile, and later negotiated its acquisition. The transaction also included the drafting and negotiation to grant a third-party a development right for both projects.

Jumping to a completely different topic, the team was also behind the environmental litigation strategy for Los Lagos Project (a run of river Hydropower plant). A petition against the Environmental Service Authority (SEA) requesting the review of Los Lagos´s environmental license (RCA), which was filed by indigenous communities. These communities claimed the assessed environmental variables related to aquatic fauna and archaeology had substantially changed. SEA and the environmental Court dismissed the case. In July 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed the previous rulings and stated not substantial changes to the environmental variables were proven by the claimants consequently the environmental license does not need to be reviewed, which entails a new environmental impact assessment for the two requested variables.

Lastly, in 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Council of Monuments shall carry out an indigenous consultation process before granting the characterisation permit of the archaeological findings located in the Los Lagos project owned by Empresa Electrica Pilmaiquen. The team is handling the process filing judicial and administrative motions to force the Council of Monuments to start with the indigenous consultation process to protect and respect Indigenous communities’ human rights and stop neglecting the compliance of human rights treaties. Human rights are at the core of Statkraft: it is one of our four pillars is in everything we do from how we operate next to communities, to how we make business.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

In-house lawyers are extremely well connected with most business areas within organisations, therefore they can actively participate in multiple projects and activities, such as advising on how projects should operate to comply with regulations, matters related to new acquisitions, social license of projects, environmental impacts, human rights, collaborating in handling of internal and external conflicts and litigation, among others.

Having such a big picture of different topics affecting the business provides them with deeper knowledge of the organisation’s risk culture and a strategic approach when it comes to handling those risks, devising tailor made and practical solutions to address business challenges.

The combination of business intimacy and technical expertise affords in-house lawyers the opportunity to use their insight, respect, and influence to drive change in organisations.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

The modern in-house lawyers should focus their efforts on providing practical solutions to the business as opposed to highlighting restrictions. The commercial and practical approach are mandatory to solve issues in this fast-paced world.

Creativity, humbleness and assertiveness are crucial skills to navigate the waters of the corporate world, where in-house lawyers are needed to devise out of the box legal strategies, to communicate them in simple words, get the buy-in of the organisation and in the process, learn that many ideas brought to the table will not see the light and that we contribute to the decisions: we do not make them.

Finally, embracing a ‘growth mindset’ through our all career. This means acknowledging that any skill can be learned or improved and stepping out of the comfort zone, accepting the risks, uncertainty, and potential failure that innovation entails.

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

Business partners need to be confident on the knowledge, collaboration, and support that in the in-house lawyers can provide. For that purpose, in-house lawyers should work closely to them and be part of projects from the beginning, being part of larger technical teams allows for synergies where teams have and share common relevant information to collaborate, brainstorm, seek for joint solutions, provide insights to map, anticipate, and prevent risks to the organisation.

Moreover, clear communication is a key factor, this includes actively listening to our clients, but also being available to provide and search for feedback, knowing what the team is doing well to praise and reinforce that conduct, what needs to be improved and implementing solutions to close gaps is key to a successful relationship with business partners.