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

Formally, the legal function is established at the holding level of a group of companies. Internally, the team is actively engaged in both planned and ad hoc transactions, as well as addressing the regular legal challenges faced by affiliates operating in the building materials industry across Europe. We have recently advised on M&A and restructuring activities in Europe, aiming to enhance and secure the company’s core business operations. 

Recognising that some clients and suppliers were grappling with liquidity issues during these challenging times, we guided our colleagues on navigating legal pitfalls and recommended tools for managing dealings with such struggling market participants. 

In response, we also worked on enhancing the documentation utilised by our affiliates, taking insolvency aspects into consideration, and fortifying their position vis-à-vis counterparties. On a positive note, the engineering experts are advancing their R&D activities, enabling the companies to maintain their established market positions. The documentation, discussion, and legal protection of promising technical innovations and inventions are crucial before their market launch, a process we take pride in supporting. Consequently, our aim is to become involved at an early stage to prevent or resolve any potential disputes before they arise.

How does your legal strategy change during periods of instability or uncertainty? 

The company and its affiliates have been successfully operating in European markets for decades. Major players usually diversify both markets and products, providing resilience during challenging periods when demand may shift between markets and products, yet rarely comes to a complete stop. In terms of in-house legal services, the legal function observes a similar pattern in the fluctuation of demand among legal disciplines, while the overall workload remains consistently high. Our strategy, therefore, remains stable as we continuously safeguard the company and proactively support our colleagues during challenging situations. 

During uncertain times, individuals naturally turn to their trusted lawyers for support in resolving disputes. Many colleagues gratefully accept our offer of cooperation, and when necessary, we work hand-in-hand with them to achieve the desired results for the company. This highlights that periods of instability present opportunities for legal teams to enhance their skills and establish themselves as a trusted resource within the company by supporting other departments.  

Communication becomes a crucial aspect, especially when delivering unpleasant information directly to relevant stakeholders to facilitate informed decisions that benefit the company. Our ambition is always to deliver clear instructions to improve challenging situations.

Do you make use of any ‘legal tech’ products, and if so, for which areas of your job do you find it most useful?

We believe in efficiency and stability, which is why we only consider the use of legal tech products that have demonstrated proof of concept and attained a level of reliability and market acceptance. In the past, we have successfully implemented various tech products that complement and enhance existing human-centred legal processes. For instance, the introduction of an AI-supported document translation tool significantly reduced translation effort and costs. Our contract management tool improved efficiency and the safety of document storage and distribution, all while safeguarding corporate data. In the upcoming years, we will closely monitor new developments, anticipating increased acceptance of AI-supported tools.
 

The above reflects the sole opinion of the respective individual and is not an official company statement.