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

Mondelez’s legal team is undergoing a major transformation process. In general terms, we have redefined our purpose with the objective of guaranteeing an operation that is absolutely integrated with the business, in order to leverage initiatives and find new opportunities for the organisation. In this journey of building an upgraded legal department, we have invested a lot of energy in innovation and digital transformation initiatives, thus seeking not only to increase efficiency and reduce bureaucracy within the legal department itself, but also to deliver value and simplification to the business.

We have actively participated in multiple activities such as AskLisa, a consulting management platform, which allows internal areas to direct queries to legal via Microsoft Teams. The platform will have an AI and machine learning system that will automatically answer questions in case of repetitive demands, otherwise, the query will be directed to the lawyers responsible for the respective subject and the answer will be received by the internal area in the Teams itself. The tool brings gains in management, such as simplification, agility, and guarantees a robust and automated repository for legal advice. We have also been a part of the creation procedure consolidating approval rules and implementing simplification and automation initiatives, such as, for example, automating the organisation’s project approval flow. The system makes all approval requests and follow-ups automatically, in addition to generating a dynamic dashboard for control and management purposes. Furthermore, we worked in the simplification of the flow of confidentiality agreements, through automation of the flow of confidentiality agreements in competitive processes and agreement of the potential supplier in relation to the confidentiality terms systemically via opt-in. Lastly, we have participated in the implementation of Brobot, a robot that monitors possible ANTT (national land transportation agency) assessments in relation to the transport flow. The tool allows the generation of payment slips automatically, contributing to compliance with legislation, mitigating the risk of tax foreclosures and providing a powerful management tool for the operation.

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?

In a context of exponential reality, it is essential that the legal department has a mindset connected with the business. We must be leaders with legal expertise. In this sense, corporate lawyers must have soft skills as developed as hard skills. Collaboration, resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, disruptive mindset and business acumen are great examples of required skills of the modern in-house lawyer. In addition, it is essential to invest in diversity, since multiple perspectives and experiences are essential ingredients of innovation and a true competitive differential.

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

The construction of sustainable partnerships with business areas represents an essential element of the corporate lawyer’s performance. For this, it is important that the legal department has a business vision and can demonstrate, in practice, that the objectives of the function are absolutely aligned with the objectives of the business. It is necessary to build the legal strategic agenda from the organisation’s strategic agenda. A good suggestion is to ensure that legal leaders have a seat on the leadership teams of their respective business areas. Equally important, is to build a purposeful agenda with business partners based on their specific demands.