About

Group general counsel and group executive committee member Maria Pernas leads the legal team of Capgemini that contains approximately 200 lawyers, data protection officers and support staff worldwide. Operating on behalf of an innovative company with over 210,000 employees that achieved global revenues of €13.2bn in 2018, the Capgemini legal department has evolved to adapt itself to this demanding landscape and to strongly contribute to the company’s growth and operational performance. In 2018, the team launched a major organisational and transformation project aimed at developing highly innovative legal solutions in a cost-effective manner, to increase the team’s ability to act as a strategic business enabler in a cross-border mode. The idea behind this was to boost legal expertise in new digital technologies, to become a reference in the industry and to reinforce people leadership – particularly around talent retention and attraction. Among the new initiatives that have already been implemented, the setting up of a single global legal centre (embedding all the rightshoring, industrialisation and knowledge management capabilities worldwide) or the development of cross-country global legal networks are proving especially successful. In addition, the M&A practice is an area that has significantly developed as well. Isabelle Riviere, group legal director of M&A, explains: ‘During the last two years, Capgemini expanded its expertise and broadened its range of services through a series of acquisitions across the world, including Liquidhub in the US, Doing in Italy, June 21 in France, Adaptive Lab in the UK and a cybersecurity specialist in the US. The M&A legal team and the local legal teams have been key partners in the negotiations and integration of these new companies to successfully secure the value of those transactions while protecting the interests of the group’. Assessing the reasons for the team’s success, Pernas explains: ‘Capgemini’s legal team is a group of legal professionals passionate by technology and with the ambition of applying legal knowledge in a pragmatic, innovative and business-minded way. Our strongest asset is our people, and we believe that we need to create a working environment that is not only stimulating and promotes professional and personal growth, but that is also fun and engaging for the individuals within the team’. Looking forward, the Capgemini legal function is extremely well-placed to take advantage of developments in the way in-house legal work is conducted. Its rapid and enthusiastic embrace of technology, focus on people and the range of abilities within its department positions it at the forefront of the legal industry.