Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?  

It may not be an “innovation” per se, but with the shift towards remote working and decreased office presence, there is definitely a renewed sense that something was lost, and that personal collaboration and sharing is still a key element of a successful department. It is important for lawyers to share experiences, successes, and failures and to be able to talk freely and directly about what they see, know, do not know, want to know, and have learned. It is the only way to avoid stagnation and ensure alignment, consistency, and continued success.

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

In terms of transactions, large deals at Oracle always come with an advanced level of complexity, as they deal with experienced and sophisticated clients, involving the implementation of advanced computing technologies and services, and are often global or multi-jurisdictional and all this in a highly competitive environment.

As for myself, I have worked in recent years on major transactions involving Oracle’s latest 5G telecom network technologies with leading European telecom providers, countless transactions involving new Oracle Java subscription offerings with various global enterprises and major deals framework with governmental bodies, such as the organisations and institutions of the European Union. All this work is done in multidisciplinary teams, involving finance and product specialists. 

However, transactional work is only one part of our contribution to the company. Equally important work is done daily in terms of operations, compliance with an ever-increasing set of regulations, intellectual property protection, implementation and enforcement of ethical business principles and specific guidance on diversity and inclusion, among others.

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?

‘Values’ is a broad term. I understand that it mainly relates to how a company conducts itself in relation to integrity, ethical business principles, compliance, employment issues, labour standards, diversity, respect for laws and regulations.

I suppose that for very specific assignments where the principal element is the exchange of legal knowledge on a particular subject, ‘values’ do not really matter. However, for more strategic advice on how to act, how to respond, how to behave in certain situations, when various courses of action are possible, it is important that external counsel understand the values and general culture of the company they are advising, and that they align their advice with these values. Alignment on these values could certainly lead to the rupturing or strengthening of a relationship.