Team size: Approx. 40

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

My team is responsible for providing legal services in BeNeLuX, CEE, DACH, Ireland, the Nordic countries and the UK. In addition, we provide legal advice on the various EU legal acts. The team deals with various litigation and regulatory proceedings, many of which are first-time cases and often set precedents for the tech industry. Key litigation includes the Austrian Supreme Court’s copyright case against Puls4 TV, the CJEU and Federal Court’s Peterson case in Germany, or the Lloyd’s case in the UK. Interesting regulatory matters include the suspension of Russia Today and other matters related to the Russian war on Ukraine, regulatory inspections under the new anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Hungary or administrative proceedings around the Communications Platform Law in Austria. A special focus these days is on content regulation in Europe, including the German NetzDG, the Austrian KoplG, the Danish DSA, the Irish OSMR, and the UK Online Safety Bill, to name a few. At the EU level, various directives and other legislation have kept us very busy in recent times. Finally, there are many commercial deals and innovative product launches from YouTube, Play, Cloud, News, or Pixel devices that we are supporting.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The pandemic has presented us all with challenges, some of which have been new and exciting, others have also been arduous and burdensome. Overall, however, I consider the changes to be extremely positive. The long working from home phase has shown us all what we can change to make our work more attractive and sustainable in the long term. We have proven that professional collaborations also work from home. No one has to prove their eagerness to work by sitting in the office for long hours, as the only thing that matters is the result of the work. Working and private life can be combined much better through flexible working. It is now easier to question whether a particular business trip makes sense, and if the meeting or the conference can instead be held virtually, saving time and environmental resources. Additionally, digital collaboration with law firms, colleagues from other companies or government agencies works much better today than it did before the pandemic. On the other hand, the advantages of working together in the office and of personal meetings have also been demonstrated, as personal exchanges are indispensable, especially for newcomers, maybe because creative exchanges work better face-to-face. Even today, I would almost always prefer an in-person meeting, but it is the mix that makes us more efficient.