Team size: Five

Key team members: Barbara Sesser, legal and compliance; Sarah Swatek, legal counsel; Susanne Bergmair, legal counsel; Maximilian Gartner, legal counsel;and Jonathan Binder, legal associate

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

Refurbed legal adopted the goal-setting framework ‘OKR’ (= objectives and key results) in January 2022. The team now applies project management principles to legal workstreams which creates transparency and accountability by setting clear objectives and key results for the legal team in quarterly cycles.

As a result, the legal team has become more efficient — affording team members higher degrees of specialization while maintaining a common strategic direction — and effective, as the intra-company alignment has reduced friction while supporting the implementation of inter-department compliance projects and policies. Additionally, OKRs allow for planning and executing relevant knowledge dissemination, such as workshops and guidelines, initiatives to the benefit of other departments in a timely fashion.

Ever since introducing OKRs to the team, the following legal objectives have already been successfully implemented: Transition to a compliant Remote First Company (including the implementation of a Home Office Policy, Flexi-Time Policy as well as management of all employment and tax law matters related to remote work within the EEC); the establishment of a Technology-Assisted Contract Management Process (including implementation of contract lifecycle tool); the implementation of a Legal Ticketing System for more efficient allocation and prioritisation of tasks between legal team members; and a comprehensive Legal Knowledge Management System (in particular the administration and maintenance of internal knowledge databases covering actionable insights and context such as Compliance Policies, IT Security Policy, Contract Negotiations and Process, Marketing Materials, Data Protection and Competition Law, DAC7, Extended Producer Responsibility).

The Knowledge Management System is regularly updated based on the needs of other teams and serves as a foundation for targeted training such as workshops for individuals.

Apart from legal matters, has the team worked on other company initiatives?

The team has been primarily involved in ESG and CSR related matters. It has co-led in all sustainability-focused communication initiatives.

The legal department has also been at the forefront of projects aimed at reorganising the company structure, some of which include the registration of a Germany entity and the search for a co-working space in Berlin; the separation of Insurance Business to new legal entity; the spin-off of two other businesses, and the strategy for future group structure.

Additionally, we put in place a legal framework for the first remote set-up in Europe, and a sexual harrassment and non-discrimination policy.

The team has also been leading some compliance initiatives such as the extended producer responsibility (EPR – Compliance system), which involves around 300 merchants, and require them to fulfil guidelines accoridng to EU-regulations related to electronical waste and packaging; and the implementation of DAC7-Regulation.

Can you sum up the team culture/ethos in one sentence?

We are the Yes-Department: we enable and empower other teams to pursue their projects through proactive and holistic guidance while ensuring minimal risk.

Starting and scaling an effective legal team from scratch in a hyper-growth environment means positioning legal as part of the company vanguard, sharing the lead when launching new products, categories or markets. Legal counsel at refurbed are firmly embedded within the organisation and can leverage their deep understanding of company objectives and processes. Ensuring that legal and compliance efforts are not a functional silo, the team prioritises cross-departmental collaboration, and maintains communication channels for legal risk sensibilisation and education with all departments. As a result, the refurbed legal team combines legal expertise with a thorough functional understanding of ongoing projects throughout their lifecycle, allowing holistic and actionable guidance and maintaining alignment of internal stakeholders under the company’s compliance strategy.