Team size: Two

Major legal advisers: Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

The company has three different locations in Colombia, and consequently, contract signing processes were not cost or time efficient. To mitigate this, I came up with the idea of electronically signing contracts in line with Colombian electronic sign regulations, after ensuring its applicability to Aceites Manuelita.

This idea was presented to the company CEO and to the legal manager of the Manuelita Group, who approved the purchase, becoming the first company in the Manuelita Group to have electronic signatures. As a result, there was a reduction in logistics, file, and paper expenses, and in the time for signing contracts and company documents.

I participated in the development of “Codex”, the Manuelita Group web page for the legal department, where our internal users can make legal requests for contract analysis, legal counsel for particular themes, legal support, and find and download contracts or legal documents, among others.

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years?

With modern technologies like AI and blockchain (smart contracts), I am guessing that legal counsel will need to adapt those tools to meet their company’s legal needs, for example contract management. Also, AI and smart contracts tools will shorten the time spent by the legal department on daily tasks, allowing them to be focus more on legal strategy and projects.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

Manuelita Group included KPIs in the environmental and social strategy for all Group companies. Hence, the board of directors continually measure those KPIs as part of the results of the company.

Manuelita’s palm oil business achieved the following:

In 2022, we became the first company in the palm oil business to achieve carbon credits for establishing projects that help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in our operations.

Our products (oil palm and biodiesel) have sustainability certifications by the RSPO and the ISCC. This means that we meet all the environmental, social, economic, and legal sustainability standards.

As general legal counsel, my contributions towards ensuring sustainable practices include:

Except in labour law, ensuring the legal compliance of the company in aspects such as legal property of the land, and measuring environmental obligations.

Participating in sustainability certifications audits to demonstrate the legal compliance of the company, as a prerequisite to becoming certified.