Team size: Approximately 30 globally

Focus on: My career

Peter Schøtt Knudsen started his professional career as an associate at the law firm Bech-Bruun. In 2001 he joined Novo Nordisk, and in 2004 he moved to Switzerland as legal director, in charge of setting up and heading the legal function for the Novo Nordisk international and regional sales activities.

In 2010, Peter became general counsel of the successful Danish brewery group Royal Unibrew. In early 2013, he assumed his current position as senior vice president and general counsel for ECCO and member of the Group’s senior management team with the overall responsibility for group legal, intellectual property rights, enterprise risk management, corporate governance and compliance, and public affairs.

Peter graduated from the University of Copenhagen (Master of Laws) in 1998 and was admitted to the bar in 2001. In addition to his legal background, he has taken extensive general management courses, including courses at Wharton Business School (USA), Stanford University (USA), and IMD (Switzerland).

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

ECCO operates globally through its own stores and partner stores in about 100 countries. Growing compliance requirements related to this, including data compliance, are crucial for our business. Setting this up successfully and efficiently throughout the operation is a significant task for the legal team.

Through its investment company, ECCO has, in recent years, invested in start-up companies especially within the ESG agenda; circular solution for our ECCO products; and initiatives related to our manufacturing processes. The legal and risk team has successfully supported and led several of these transactions in multiple jurisdictions.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

Solid legal skills remain a crucial qualification, but insights into digital competences are also important, as this becomes increasingly integrated into our business – even as a shoe manufacturer and shoe brand.

How have you fostered a closer collaboration between the legal department and your business counterparts?

The various legal and risk team members regular join meetings with the business counterparts to ensure proactive involvement of the legal and risk team.

Enterprise risk management has also been integrated into the legal and risk team, where focus on risk and risk mitigations are monitored and assessed on an ongoing basis. This has also fostered an even closer collaboration by the legal and risk team and business counterparts.