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

Within Experian, our legal department is already considered a strategic partner. That intensified with the pandemic, as multiple bills ‘attacked’ our aspirations. In response, we were required to do an intensive work, not just of technical notes to defend why the use of information, particularly in times of crisis is fundamental, as stopping that access brings a negative effect to the market. So, not only we focused on building those technical notes, but also defending the sector’s positioning in the National Congress. 

Besides the legal department, I’m also responsible for the government affairs area, so we have a team based in Brasilia with which I work directly on some very intense and important projects, closely with legislators, and other institutions within the market, not specific to our business sector. In that front, we have done a very good job. 

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

In case in specific, I don’t think the great and close relationship our legal department has with the business partners comes or has grown due to the pandemic – I believe it comes from before that time. These interactions and togetherness are clearly something in the company’s DNA, with the legal department ingrained in all business areas, so in my mind, as close to the business as possible. I think that more and more, legal teams become closer to the strategic planning of companies, which makes decisions and actions more solid and united, brought by that partnership. 

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? 

I believe that hard skills are a thing of the past and that soft skills are more important today than they were ever before. On that, if in-house lawyer is aware of business timings and is close to the company’s strategy, then they can only be successful as that has become one of the most important traits for someone in that position. That, sometimes, is not just a quick mindset, but also having the initiative to be involved, from the beginning, in the business discussions, because if something is led from the start, it is easier to, along the way, analyse and study the legal formalities of each case or transaction. Soft skills, engage with the business and become part of the business team and not just a counsel on the side that only provides legal advice. It is required now to be together with internal partners, at all times. The more knowledgeable someone from the legal department is about the company’s work and market, then the more effective they will be in delivering good and fast-paced results.