About

Atos is an international information technology company working with clients across a wide variety of market sectors. The challenges for the legal team run deeply through the company’s history, with several acquisitions meaning a constant influx of new team members. Alexandre Menais joined in 2011 as group general counsel, the same year in which Atos Origin and Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) merged. More than 100 lawyers and contract managers joined the Atos team while new countries were added to the operations. Menais was quick to integrate the teams while ‘keeping the best of each culture to become “best in class”’. Within the first 90 days Menais proceeded with a bottom-up approach asking the team to voice their expectations, ideas and questions about the newly formed Legal Compliance and Contract Management Department (LCM Department). Ingeniously, Menais used the redesign of the LCM Department as a means to bring everyone together around one common project. ‘The LCM Department has to become a global team, for a global organisation to boost the quality and standing of legal services with Atos’. As a result the three year Transformation Programme was created incorporating six work streams including KPI’s, policies and workflows to be developed. Creating an environment of 360 degree management, Menais put in place the Legal Executive Leadership Team (LELT) composed of the main legal directors of the group, which pulls away from the previous approach of having all responsibilities solely held by the group general counsel. An advocate of technology, he ensured the successful addition of LawNet, an internal social network (ZEN) and a knowledge management platform (SharePoint). This has paved the way for a Zero Email Program, where lawyers can look up team members based on expertise while also following up on past discussions surrounding a client or case. LawNet on the other hand has provided a document storage hub where remarks, amendments and feedback can be made through the software. Creating cross-culture camaraderie and a single voice of legal support, Menais was promoted to executive vice president in 2014 and is also the vice president of Cercle Montesquieu. He is the co-founder and director of a leading IT website and an academic through his role as a guest lecturer at EDHEC Business School and as a member of the Advisory Board of LegalEdhec.