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

Recently, we have been involved in multiple relevant cases, on behalf of the company. We have been working in big infrastructure work contracts, involving millions of Brazilian reais. Also, we have been active on many innovation projects related to intellectual property rights and licensing seeking the company’s operational efficiency. Lastly, our legal department has worked on large electricity projects.

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.

The most important thing is that law firms need to understand the business developed by the company and be objective. The company does not want a huge memorandum, full of jurisprudence and legal terms. We need to work closely with the business in an objective and didactic manner, seeking efficiency, innovation and risk mitigation.

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?

It is very important to bring technology and innovation to the legal world, and embrace them, which is sometimes still very time consuming. In addition, it is important to be closer and understand the company’s business, to be objective, empathetic and to recognise that we are all working for the success of the operation and the business.

What are some of the main legislative or regulatory changes that have impacted you?

Legislative and regulatory change for distributed generation projects. We developed two large projects during the regulatory uncertainty phase, but through negotiations and agreement with the partner, we were able to accommodate and mitigate the risks involved.