(previously at GE Renewable Energy)

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

Our legal department has been engaged in some significant construction arbitrations that represented a huge risk to the business. These arbitrations involved many parties, and although proceedings were held in Brazil, they had a significant international aspect. Apart from requiring our legal expertise, these cases have also demanded detailed and careful technical and engineering expertise.

Besides that, we have been involved in the negotiation of important services and supply agreements for maintenance and refurbishment of different power plants in the region, one of them being the refurbishment of Itaipu hydro plant, the second largest hydro plant in the world, which will take 14 years to be executed by our company, in consortium with two other parties.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

It´s not only very important, but mandatory, that external lawyers are aligned with our company´s values. A law firm that does not act with integrity and bases its work on compliance rules it´s a no go. Also, respect for the individual and diversity are key values for our company, and we aim to work with external lawyers that have these same values. We include questions related to those topics when we assess the law firms, before engaging them, and take their responses into account during the choosing process.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Corporate counsels need extensively understand the business they work in, including its technical and commercial aspects, its main goals, what lies ahead, challenges and risks. Only legal counsels that develop this deep understanding can really support their company and business partners. Legal knowledge is important of course, but it’s just a starting point. Corporate counsels also need to develop soft skills, such as inclusiveness, leadership, negotiation and clear thinking.