Team size: Four

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

The most significant cases in which my team has been involved are the following concern the construction of a new LPG plant — As part of the obligations committed through an investment contract signed with the Ecuadorian State; land was negotiated and acquired for the construction of a new LPG plant on the outskirts of the city of Guayaquil. Legal management included ensuring that the land is located in a high-impact industrial area. The appropriate regulations for the use of land in the sector were obtained. Various sectoral and non-sectoral authorisations were managed, such as the feasibility of the regulatory entity and the initiation of environmental and municipal permits. Problems related to lawsuits over land disputes were resolved. Constant monitoring of judicial processes is carried out. Multiple contracts with indemnity clauses have been entered into to secure the investment. Several legal analyses have been carried out on the current national problems regarding environmental regulations that impact the project.

Another case in which legal has played a crucial part regards the expropriation of property for projects with high environmental impact. The revocation of a process of appropriation of a part of our LPG plant in Quito was achieved due to the construction of a work with a high environmental impact, which needed security guarantees and brought together two risky operations without technical support. This was obtained through a constitutional action for violating rights to property, nature, the environment, safety and health. Due to its impact on citizens, the media knew about this judicial process, which echoed the problem. The legal department led a media strategy that gave results. The judicial authorities were forced to analyse the case more carefully and review the technical reports, delaying their resolution. This caused the source responsible for the appropriation to modify the initial project and propose a work with less impact on the company´s LPG plant. In this way, through a loan contract, a part of the land was provided for construction with less impact, which respects environmental regulations and safety, guaranteeing and shielding the operation of the plant in the long term.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

It is very important that external lawyers agree with the values of the company. They are not just justice operators who collaborate in solving a problem by offering any type of alternative. Their actions must be based on transparency and integrity, to guarantee that the operation of the company is not affected by risks such as discredit or even the commission of crimes that imply corporate responsibility. Definitely, a poor performance by external advisors, moving away from the company´s values, would be a relevant factor to reconsider their hiring, since they will not guarantee the sustainability of the business in the long term.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

The technological advances that will have the greatest impact in the future for legal areas are all those developments based on artificial intelligence that seek to facilitate the generation of legal solutions to simple problems, and provide automatic assistance, being able to replace the human work that is still being done, to certain support activities in the field of law. For now, the legaltech tools most used by the team are: the platform for the creation and management of contracts and legal documents; the search platform for current and historical legislation, as well as jurisprudence; software for searching and updating legal processes or case tracking; platforms for regulatory and compliance; and, those related to prevention through the search for background information to carry out a correct du diligence for the contracting of suppliers and clients.