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What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

Legal and compliance advice on local due diligence process for the acquisition of an important agrochemicals manufacturer.

Coordination of the legal and risk management activities within the M&A project of acquiring a major international producer of OTC medicines.

Managing and advising on the legal processes necessary for the reorganisation of holding companies at the local level, and set-up for the further functional processes in the same time with the implementation of the new technologies for the legal department.

Global-level involvement in a project initiated by the legal function to establish a new approach of the legal and compliance specialists in relation with the operational departments of the group and local business unit companies. This perspective consists of implementing a process based on business partnering approaching by the legal and compliance departments for the operational departments at the global level.

An important series of disputes and litigations against the local authorities on claw back taxes and price methodologies in healthcare and energy domains.

How important have “soft skills” or personal attributes outside of technical legal skill been to the team’s success, and which “soft skills” do you feel are most important for an in-house lawyer to possess?

Technical skills represent the basis for the in-house counsel activity regarding business law expertise. However, soft skills are playing a fundamental role for the team’s success. The managing in-house lawyer has to coordinate, establish the mission and the strategy of the department, to check the status of fulfilment of the projects, to protect and to offer confidence for the department colleagues whenever is necessary, and to create opportunities for development of the talents or the right advice for the persons which need to improve their capacities for reaching the optimum professional level. Thus, the in-house lawyer needs soft skills like listening and verbal communication for establishing the right channels of imparting to the colleagues, also creativity, flexibility and innovation are critical attributes for understanding the issues and applying the appropriate solutions, with delegation, continuous and constructive feed-back and inspiring people for an efficient leadership culture into the organisation. In the same manner working ethic and becoming a good business partner represent very strong qualities which are very useful in an in-house lawyer’s activity.

What are the main qualities you look for in a potential new hire?

A potential new hire needs to have beside the technical (hard) skills which are usually achieved during university studies and in the first years of practice, a very good level of legal knowledge and practical spirit combined with certain soft skills, which may offer the possibility to fulfil the expectations of the operational departments. All these because an in-house lawyer confronting with a continuous changing and interdisciplinary environment must be very close to the business. Other important qualities of the in-house lawyer are related to the readiness for working in a partnership with the operational departments. The desire of continuous development and interdisciplinary education represent a substantial quality for a legal specialist to become a potential talent and a future reliable legal consultant within corporate affairs.

What advice would you give to any peers or colleagues working in the Romanian market for the first time?

In the Romanian market it’s advisable to be prepared for a very dynamic economic environment with quick evolutions and frequent changes in domestic legislation. Also, paying a special attention to relevant regulations of the target domain and a deep understanding of the main changes in the business area is very important. For the regulated markets a very close cooperation of legal function with the regulatory departments within the companies is recommended, in order to be prepared for quick reactions in finding appropriate solutions for management.

What can law firms in Romania, and the wider CEE region, do to win more business from you?

An external legal office would be more than welcomed should it commit to understanding the business specificity of company operations, combined with a high level of expertise and providing proper options. Additionally, it’s very important that the law firm has a flexible and interdisciplinary approach. At the same time, proactivity of an external law firm is very appreciated, in analysing and keeping updated the client with the trends of the expertise business domain in the same time with the changes in the legal field.

FOCUS ON… TRANSFORMATION TRENDS

Since digital technology has become a constant in legal activity, new trends are no longer a surprise. The use of advanced information technology in legal work represents an advantage and creates an efficient working environment, and implementation of AI systems within the legal profession has made considerable progress in recent years, contradicting the stereotype that the law is a reticent domain in terms of such radical transformations. The famous AI Ross application is already being used in the US, materialising in the first application of this kind implemented in the legal activity, being used now within a reputable company of the US in insolvency practice law. The use of Salesforce Einstein CRM contributes as a novelty component of the legal activity, because through this application you can perform very useful legal operations in the business environment. This includes carrying out contracts in an integrated programme with commercial and financial data, adaptation contracts based on commercial forecasts regarding customers, the implementation of new contractual mechanisms according to the data and analysis of the sales system and others.

These types of applications simplify the way the organisations work by taking over activities with a certain degree of repeatability, carrying out punctual legal research and relevant case law, monitoring legislation until supporting legal analysis with a high degree of difficulty and is practically an eloquent example regarding how the legal profession is now transformed, in real time.

In conclusion, firstly, the challenges within corporate legal departments concern mainly the interference of the field of law with other fields, secondly, we are experiencing a change in the way of working and also for the way of thinking some new processes. Thirdly, digitisation means the progress made in the field of AI, agile project management, blockchain and innovative technology management programmes, seem to be about to open a new era in the main fields of all business activities at the global level, including legal.