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

The legal department of Huawei is involved with all the areas of the company, from Sales to Procurement, Finance, Human Resources, delivery, different business Areas and for sure, the CEO and directors, not only local but regional or even with HQ. As a multinational company in more than 170 countries, our work must be local, regional and global.

Our target as a company is to have a significant presence in the market, improving the connection of all the people. It is the goal that we keep in mind as a legal department looking to support the sales, avoiding legal risks or decreasing and reviewing to comply with the applicable legislation in all areas.

As the legal department, we are not only involved in the contract but also since the RFI, RFP, question and answer, offer, awarding and contract negotiation, it means in the whole process before reaching the goal and even though after the contract signature in any request that delivery team need our support.

Ecuador Legal Department is highly appreciated in the Ecuador office of the company. It has a good reputation in the region that we constructed through the years, which permits us to be involved in all the projects and that our voice is heard, which allows us to comply with our target.

Related to judicial or arbitration cases, we have excellent results in one critical commercial arbitration case this year in which we decreased xx m USD, also in labour cases and working hard in some tax cases in which we have reasonable expectations. We are not looking for trials, but we always consider mediation with our internal and external customers as a good solution if needed.

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?

I can say that is fundamental, we cannot work with someone that does not follow our same company values because it can be like two men in a boat rowing in the opposite direction, this doesn’t mean that we are closed to new opinions or other options, but if we talk about company values or ethical values, we cannot reach our target if our principles are different.

If I can reconsider the firms to work with based on this, the answer is yes. Indeed, I do that. I work with law firms and lawyers that are aligned with our values.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

We must understand the business entirely and be involved with all areas because, as in-house lawyers, we are the ones who can best know what our company is dedicated to. There is the principal difference with external lawyers; it means we know what we do, what our values are as a company, and our objectives, and we understand our strengths and weaknesses to better deal with the cases we need to address.

In this sense, we must be open to working in a multidisciplinary team, listen to others and be open to new ideas, be attentive to changes, remain in constant learning, work with open doors, make the company employees and directors trust us, be kind, professional and open to changes all of that can help the company in its goals. A corporate legal team must understand what is inside the company to avoid future legal problems and improve the possibilities to reach the targets legally.