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

The entertainment industry is an exciting place to work and that includes the legal department. Every day, new challenges and rules are added in order to have fun in a healthy and safe way. In Chile, the casino industry is regulated by a special authority, Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego, and by the Unidad de Análisis Financiero, a public authority in charge of preventing the use of the financial system, and of other sectors of Chilean economic activity for the commission of the crimes of money laundering and financing of terrorism. To this are added common standards related to work and consumer law, among others.

Thus, the task of the legal department in a company such as Enjoy, is to assist in the challenge of making the entertainment a sustainable business with a positive impact on society. Particularly, the legal team must work side by side with the operation team from the beginning of the project, not only to review the ordinary legal aspects but also to identify possibles risks, assist in how to communicate, foresee how the company´s actions might affect the clients.

As a legal team, we will always fulfil the role of a traditional lawyer by reviewing contracts, elaborate powers of attorney, or attend board of directors, but the challenge is to be a part of the business and participate in the commercial decisions, making things happen from the beginning, in such a way that the lawyer is not limited to ‘obstructing’ the project. This is how we have worked on the most important recent events of Enjoy, including concluding a successful Reorganization agreement under Chilean law and a Chapter 15 under United States, and others financial and commercial deals.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this? 

Choosing our external lawyers is a big responsibility for the in-house legal team, since it is important that they know not only about the company and its business, but also it is necessary that they share the same values as the company because, on many occasions, they are the face of the company. Therefore, the selection of the external lawyer is not only based on the basis of technical capacity but also that they share a concern for the relevant issues of the company. In this sense, it is possible today that a firm of external lawyers is chosen due to its closeness to the company´s values.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

Undoubtedly, the progress of technology such as digital signatures that shorten document approval times, different monitoring tools that allow better assigning the workload in the team, following up on the requirements, verifying response times, issues consulted, among others, facilitates the legal work, allowing not only a faster response but also to be able to quantify the workload of the legal area that is often difficult to measure.

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

Today the in-house lawyer not only reviews contracts or identifies risks, but he/she is part of the business operation, so it is essential that he/she knows the business and the industry where they works, in such a way that their work is collaborative and is not to be considered an obstacle for doing business. Thus, today lawyers who work in gambling casinos and hotels must know the dynamics of casino operation: visit casinos, hotels and be attentive to legal changes that may affect their operation. In short, a profile that meets these requirements will allow us to have a legal area that meets what companies need today.