About

Juan Saavedra Ortiz spent 10 years working in two Magic Circle firms, Linklaters and Allen & Overy, before deciding to move in-house. During that time he advised on a wide variety of transactions and clients, including many multinational companies. This experience equipped him with expert knowledge on corporate matters, which proved a very useful asset for his current role as senior legal counsel for Inditex, the Spanish multinational clothing company with a turnover of approximately €18bn and presence in 80 jurisdictions. Since joining the company, he has started wide-reaching initiatives to give a more international approach to the legal department. He is currently leading the legal work for e-commerce and IT at Inditex and he is also a permanent member of the corporate department on data protection and privacy, which each area have their own complex problems. For example, e-commerce is a new area that sits at the heart of the business strategy, and has therefore been closely observed by the business. He admits that the launch of an e-commerce website in a new jurisdiction is like creating a start-up. ‘For us it can be a big challenge and achievement to advise on terms and conditions of the website and labelling every time for a new jurisdiction. It requires good knowledge on local regulations’. His substantial contribution in the regularisation of the contract execution processes in the new jurisdictions has been crucial for the business. Saavedra Ortiz is currently taking further LLM courses, supported by Inditex, and he has published a book on business operations and investment products in the financial markets.