Team size: 13

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

During periods of instability or crises, managing legal aspects becomes critical to safeguarding the company´s interests and ensuring its resilience. My approach involves several key strategies. First, I conduct a risk assessment to identify potential legal vulnerabilities and based on such analysis I then implement proper mitigation strategies. Second, I maintain open lines of communication with all departments to understand their challenges and provide legal guidance. This helps in anticipating issues before they escalate and ensures that the legal team is aligned with the company´s operational needs. Third, it is crucial for a successful response to crisis to establish and participate in a crisis response team that includes representatives from key departments. This team is responsible for developing and executing a coordinated response to the crisis, ensuring that legal considerations are integrated into decision-making processes. Fourth, during crises, it is essential to maintain accurate records of all decisions, communications and actions that are taken. This documentation is vital for legal compliance and can be crucial in defending the company against any future claims or disputes. Finally, engaging with stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and regulators is crucial. I ensure that our legal responses consider the interest of these stakeholders and work to maintain their trust and confidence in the company.

Legal strategies must be flexible and adaptative. I continuously review and adjust our legal strategies based on the evolving nature of the crisis and the company´s changing needs. This involves being prepared to take swift legal actions. It is crucial to understand the company´s goals and ensure that legal actions support these objectives.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

Emerging technologies are rapidly transforming the legal profession, offering both opportunities and challenges. AI is revolutionising legal research, contract analysis and e-discovery. AI-powered tools can quickly sift through vast amounts of data, identifying relevant information and patterns that would take human researchers much longer to find. This increases efficiency and accuracy in legal work. Also, blockchain offers enhanced security and transparency for transactions and record-keeping. In the legal field, it has the potential to streamline processes such as contract management. Smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts, are a notable application of blockchain. Likewise, cloud-based solutions provide secure, accessible and scalable storage for legal documents. They facilitate remote work, collaboration and real-time updates, which are particularly valuable in today´s hybrid work environments.

With these technological advancements, it is important to recognise that the critical thinking and analytical skills of lawyers will become increasingly important. While technology can handle data processing and routine tasks, the ability to interpret complex information, make nuanced judgements and develop strategic solutions is uniquely human. Consequently, lawyers should be trained to leverage technology effectively while honing their critical thinking, problem-solving and analytical skills to add value in ways machines cannot.

To stay updated on these developments, I participate in webinars, workshops and conferences focused on legal technology. These events provide insights from experts and opportunities to learn about the latest advancements. Also, networking with peers allows for the exchange of knowledge and experiences regarding new technologies and their applications in the legal field.