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

A couple of years ago, Unilever acquired a new portfolio of personal care in Latin America. This acquisition fulfilled behavioural conditions of competition, which I have been working on.

Additionally, we have been involved in growth projects for the business in Ecuador that involves the restructuring of supply chain and costumer operations areas, and an important change in the way we market to one of our most important categories in Ecuador.

The legal team has also been working on the incorporation of e-commerce tools, B2B and B2C to our business. and on compliance with the new Personal Data Protection Law in Ecuador.

What diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have you and your legal department been championing within your company’s endeavours?

I am fortunate to be the leader for the D&I squad at Unilever Ecuador and we have been working on different pillars of D&I, such as gender diversity, inclusion of migrants, inclusion of people with disabilities, gender violence, compliance with the Violet Law in Ecuador, leveraging our purposeful brands such as Dove, Rexona, Pinguino in this process.

At Unilever, we take the work we do internally and externally for diversity and inclusion very seriously. We have been involved in several initiatives such as SOY PINGUINO, an Inclusive Company Program with ACNUR, Project Yo Quiero Ser with WforW Ecuador, and a Bootcamp Unilever-ESPOL, targeted to our business partners where we include diversity and inclusion as part of the program.

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?

AI is undoubtedly transforming the role of in-house lawyers by streamlining repetitive tasks such as document and contract review, allowing them to focus on strategic aspects and decision-making. It can also enhance efficiency in legal research and data analysis, facilitating case preparation.

However, the use of AI also poses ethical and security challenges regarding data privacy and the confidentiality of legal information. Ultimately, AI complements the skills of in-house lawyers, but the human element and legal judgment remain essential in their work.