Team size: three

Can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently?

We consider our legal department as an internal service desk that manages all the business units and entities of the company. Our internal clients and other teams get swift, hands-on feedback in due time and in an easily understandable way. Since I have previous experience working in private practice, I use the skills I gained in providing a client-oriented approach, even in-house.

We have recently acquired two medium-sized companies based in Germany. The due diligence, the negotiations of the contracts and the share purchase agreements were controlled and managed by the legal team. Additionally, we have recently expanded our plants in Romania. We carried out intensive and lengthy negotiations concerning the new business. Recently the new building has successfully been released.

Legal tech is crucial to us. We have modernised our entire contract lifecycle management, and we are now able to manage all contracts globally in one software. We have also introduced a global whistleblowing system, which the legal department governs. Furthermore, legal tech also aids in managing our IP rights and protects them from infringement by third parties.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The pandemic has changed the working conditions of in-house counsel — we were forced to deal with online platforms and virtual meetings. On the other hand, we realised the importance of IT in making our work easier. The pandemic has also demonstrated that it is possible to work productively regardless of location.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

AI will definitely have an impact. It will take much work off our hands in the future, taking over tasks such as risk identification, preliminary legal checks, and research. I am convinced that regardless of the efficiency of AI, there will always be the need for humans to process the output.