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

At Sandoz, we have recently been involved in many challenging but exciting cases and transactions, one of the most significant cases being the signature of a partnership for productive products with Butantan for Adalimumab and Etanercept. Moreover, we are shaping an internal highly ethical and compliant environment with several disruptive initiatives.

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?

Working with external lawyers aligned with my company’s and mine values is not only a need but a must. The law firms hired must have high-integrity values, respect diversity, and be responsible for the environment. Firms that are not aligned with our values either are not engaged or certainly are reconsidered as partners.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

How we work and provide services and advice to our companies and clients is changing very quickly and will continue to do so in the future. New and innovative technology is here to help in the delivery of internal counselling, making our support even more agile and high-quality. New initiatives, such as legal design, legal apps, electronic signatures and documents, podcasts, and interactive platforms are some of the tools used by my legal team to meet our purpose of being simple, ethical, and groundbreaking.

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

To build a strong relationship with your business partners, you need to understand their needs, as well as being an active part of defining the company’s strategy. Being open to listening and receiving feedback, fostering out-of-the-box thinking, and anticipating their needs are some of the actions you put in place to build such a strong relationship.