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

The in-house legal team under my responsibility has handled, handles, and is expected to handle all types of operations, transactions, deals and functional activities. We advise senior management and participate in regional and local management committees; we manage M&A projects from initial analysis through to post-execution activities; we manage and handle corporate secretarial matters; we advise and work on contracts for the purchase and sale of goods and services, such as supply contracts, service contracts, EPC contracts, labour contracts and, in general, all types of contracts with all types of counterparties, including the sale of goods and services to public and private healthcare institutions and the provision of healthcare and home care services in public and private programmes; defining litigation strategies, managing and monitoring litigation; providing legal and ethical guidance and training, monitoring legal and ethical compliance and conducting compliance investigations. We are also actively participating in corporate diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives, and more. As you can see my team provides comprehensive, general, and proactive legal support to all areas and operations of the company.

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

Our combination of legal expertise, organisational knowledge and business acumen, and the ability to work collaboratively as proactive business partners, makes in-house lawyers valuable drivers of change within their organisations.

In my experience, in-house lawyers provide legal support to all business and functional areas across the company’s commercial, operational, and functional activities, as well as compliance and diversity and inclusion initiatives, all of which provides us with a broad understanding of the organisation and its goals, challenges, and opportunities, and allows us to identify areas where improvements and changes are needed. In-house lawyers can tailor business, operational, functional, and legal solutions to align with the company’s needs and goals and identify and manage potential risks. If the company, with the support of the legal department, is able to address risks in a timely manner, this creates a safe environment for doing business and implementing initiatives and, if the legal team can embed ethical values while driving change, this promotes a culture of responsible and ethical behaviour within the organisation.

As in-house lawyers often have direct access to senior management, leadership groups and decision-makers, and are well versed in the organisation’s history and past experiences, this gives us a long-term perspective on legal and business issues. We can help build new business strategies based on proven methods and avoid past mistakes.

What diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have you and your legal department been championing within your company’s endeavours?

Air Products aims to be the most diverse company in the global gas industry and has created a culture where people from all walks of life can come together, work together, and feel that they and their contributions matter. Our legal department manages the Air Products Legal Advocacy Programme (LAP) in the South America region, which is a programme launched and led by the executive VP general counsel and secretary of Air Products. The programme provides free legal support to those employees and families who have been victims of discrimination, of any type, outside the workplace.

Air Products has thirteen employee resource groups (ERGs) with 25 chapters, and four diversity and inclusion councils that support multiple affinities and identities around the world. Regarding the values of diversity, inclusion and belonging, I am proud to say that my entire team participates in at least one of those ERGs, and one of them is co-chair and founder of the South America-based ERG chapter, which focuses on the LGBTQ+ community. Personally, I am a member of three ERGs: The Women’s Success Network, which helps women reach their full potential by supporting their development; Spectrum South America, which raises awareness of the LGBTQ+ community and supports its members and allies; and the Hispanic Organisation of Latinos and Amigos (HOLA), which celebrates and supports the contributions of the Hispanic community. Earlier this year, I participated as a speaker at HOLA’s ERG, sharing my life and professional experience.

As a legal department and as individuals, we are committed to championing equality and inclusion initiatives to support Air Products employees in and out of the workplace.