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

For the past six years, our company has been restructuring. Therefore, many businesses that have been part of Siemens for many years are no longer part of our company, though part of the Siemens Group. For example, Siemens Energy it’s an independent company from Chile, Siemens Group is the main shareholder of that company, but we are now separated. Same thing happened with Siemens Health. Last year, we did a similar thing for Siemens Large Drives, which in Chile it’s quite relevant because it deals with all the mining companies in the country. It was a very sensitive and complex process, not only with all the legal paperwork, but managing the expectations of customers and explaining, not only from a legal point of view but also the commercial effects that this might have on this specific deal. As an in-house lawyers, this process has made us more part of the business, which has been an incredible experience. Since I joined the company, we have always negotiated alongside our business partners, which always made me feel like part of the strategic side of the company. 

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations? 

Our department has always been, since my time at Siemens, very active in the business strategy of the company. One of the things we are working a lot, at the moment, has been in trying to bring new businesses to the company, together with other business partners from other areas of the company. We are bringing costumers that are in new industries that we want to get really involved in, namely green hydrogen, lithium and others. I am getting involved in many of the decisions that are not legal decisions, so my role as general counsel is now to be a part of the decision-making of Siemens – we are now part of the business with a commercially-focused mindset. 

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? 

My one condition would be to cut loose – to get out of the legal department “box” because there is a world of surprises within the company. In-house lawyers would be surprised by the amount of value they can add to other parts of the company that don’t just require a legal advisor and most importantly, how much fun they can have working in all these different projects outside your comfort zone. Other departments we thrive in are: communication, strategy, which requires a lot of legal insight, new business development, and others. 

Siemens is a company that is very innovative on these issues. They are always open to hear new proposals and if they make sense to management, they will tell you to go ahead with your ideas.