Team size: Six

Major legal advisers: Garrigues, Deloitte

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

The pandemic brought new challenges for our legal team regarding the necessity to be able to work simultaneously on documents with counterparts keeping a record and evidence of the changes made by each party. Even though this technological development was already available in the market, our company’s technology department developed a new mechanism of document control that keeps record of the different versions of a document, as well as keeping track of the modifications made on each version. This allows our legal team to identify the negotiation conditions and the variations present on the final document, to prevent possible future conflicts regarding the interpretation of a contract or its specifications. In the same way, an external provider helps us to ensure the hosting of these versions as well as the electronic signature included on each document, ensuring their legal validity.

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years?

The rapid and constant growth of modern technology has brought more and more repercussions in the development of any economic activity, and the legal field is not the exception. Therefore, we must be in continuous training towards the integration of technological innovations on the way we execute our counselling, looking to provide the company not only with innovative and creative ways to achieve the best possible negotiations, but also to provide the services that, for now, artificial intelligence has not yet developed. It is the socio-affective bond with the client, the understanding of their concerns and needs, and, of course, a search for equity and justice that can be provided by a human consultant and not simply translated into a mathematical formula. On the other hand, the general counsel must have the capacity to increasingly acquire knowledge of the corporate business operation in detail, providing counselling in a practical and efficient manner to the company’s needs, being able to resort to external advice only on exceptional cases that, because of their complex nature, require high expertise.

What challenges have you encountered in implementing effective risk management practices, and how have you overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges that arose has been the implementation of effective management practices. This comes from the need to corporately internalise risk as part of the company’s strategic vision, and the need to assign an appropriate number of resources for its identification, control, and monitoring. Another element, in terms of the effective implementation of legal risk management, pertains to the corporate determination of risk appetite, and how to destinate resources to reach as many areas as possible. The mechanism to do the follow-up of the defined control must be clearly established also.

What is a cause, business-related or otherwise, you are passionate about, and why?

I work in a company very passionate towards social causes, which includes cooperation and donation programs with foundations that contribute to families in vulnerable situations, specifically in situations of food poverty. These activities are not limited to the contribution of resources. We also participate in social activities in which we seek to identify the needs of the less fortunate populations and then go on to encourage awareness of the social and affective needs of the population. Any kind of contribution that allows a human being to generate a substantial change is the best personal and professional reward.

Malnutrition has been classified as one of the most relevant threats to the survival and health of children, and in Colombia there are certain geographical areas where this situation is more critical. In recent years this situation, instead of decreasing, has shown significant growth. This is part of the reason social causes should be assumed with the greatest efforts possible.