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

My team is responsible for managing all disputes related to all Shell businesses in Latin America, plus all disputes related to Shell’s upstream, integrated gas and renewables businesses in the United States. The team is currently handling several high-complex and high-value disputes pending in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States and Uruguay. Some of these disputes are international arbitrations administered by the most renowned global institutions, some others are pending before local courts of law or regulatory authorities. The subject-matters involved are mostly commercial, corporate, environmental, regulatory and foreign direct investment. In addition, the team is frequently called to provide general legal advice in transactions, such as bid rounds for upstream and integrated gas leases in Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago and renewables projects in Colombia, Brazil and Peru.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use? Examples could be greater flexibility in billing, a more expansive suite of services offered, more transparency in reporting ESG statistics etc.

In general, the law firms I work with are pretty much aware of our expectations and most of the time are aligned with it, but diversity, equity and inclusion are topics I certainly would like to see changing faster than they have been. While we recognise most firms are genuinely focused on improving diversity, equity and inclusion within their ranks, we would like to see these efforts coming to fruition sooner. There are several actions, law firms and clients take together in this space, and we are always looking for such opportunities.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

In-house lawyers must understand the business they are supporting and position themselves as true business partners, beyond the usual role of a mere legal adviser. Be acutely aware of the risks and opportunities the business faces are foundational for any kind of legal representation, and paramount to effectively assist the business to strike the right risk-appetite for any kind of situation. In general, in-house lawyers earn their seat at the business table once they are perceived by their business stakeholders as one of them, as a businessperson contributing to the business with their legal skills.