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

The main activities led by our department were: the purchase and aale of Neoenergia’s PCH’s and Co-generators to Contour Global, held in 2016, the incorporation of Elektro Holding by Neoenergia held in 2017, Neoenergia’s IPO, held in 2019, purchase of Renewables Assets of Pec Energia to Neoenergia Renováveis, held in 2020; OPA of Neoenergia Pernambuco held in 2022; exchange of Generation Assets with Eletronorte, held in 2022; and sale of 50% of Neoenergia Transmission Companies’ to GIC, held in 2023.

Did the pandemic lead to a lasting increase in the interaction your legal team has with the strategic plans of the company?

Since the legal team might act as a business unit and part of the decision-making process, the interactions and exchange of experiences are essential for the achievement of the company’s strategic plans. Pandemic only evidenced more this behavior.

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.

Certainly, billing is still one of the most underdeveloped activities of law firms in general, and it still requires improvements.

If you have worked in other countries, what are the main challenges unique to operating as an in-house counsel in your current location?

Our main across-board experience is connected to the fact that we are part of an international group. Nevertheless, we believe that in-house counsel challenges are similar everywhere. In general, make the legal team be recognised as a strategic business partner, and, also, from a corporative development perspective, engage peers in new projects while they are already overwhelmed with their daily activities and challenges.

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?

A business-oriented view, based on solid and multidisciplinary knowledge. In other words, the legal team should be committed to excellence in legal advice, going beyond business protection and seeking to support the balance between protection and business risk-taking.