Team size: three

Major legal advisers: Arias Law, Dentons Munoz, FAYCA (Costa Rica), Meythaler & Zambrano, Corral Rosales (Ecuador), ICAZA (Panama), Ulises Cabrera, Russin Vecchi & Heredia Bonetti, Pellerano & Herrera (Dominican Republic), Trinidad Law (Trinidad and Tobago).

Which recent political, economic, or regulatory changes have impacted the company and the team the most?

Without a doubt, Latin America’s current political and economic condition and the newly introduced regulations made it difficult for in-house lawyers in the country to practice their area of expertise. During the pandemic, interacting with our external lawyers has been challenging, and this motivated us to be more agile and efficient with our interaction with the public authorities. Travelling between different countries has been almost impossible due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Therefore, instead of focusing on international trades, our in-house lawyers took part in different local projects in the company.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

Technology competency has been increasingly emphasised for the in-house legal roles. Adopting the following technology will be key for our success in the future: artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep data analysis. These technologies will help us to combat against counterfeit, parallel imports, and trademark protection.

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected the company and the team’s priorities?

The GSK Consumer Healthcare introduced the internal policies regarding climate change and sustainability even before the topics became the major point of discussion in the market. I am extremely proud of the GSK’s embracing this momentum toward Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).