About

Highly experienced in the energy sector, Elena Fernández Sánchez joined Enel Green Power, the Italian renewable energy corporation with operations in over 16 countries, in 2010. She started her career in a consulting firm, specialised in the energy industry. Later she joined the legal department of Enel Unión Fenosa Renovables, where she advised on renewable regulation and environmental law. She admits that the role of the in-house lawyer can be quite challenging. ‘As an in-house lawyer, our main task is to keep the balance between staying independent from the business, so we can advise the company in a proper way, and at the same time understanding that nevertheless we have the same objectives and goals with the business, so our main efforts must be always in the direction of obtaining solutions, instead of only pointing out the risks and problems that arise’. In her current role she is mainly in charge of the company’s defence, having successfully handled several complex litigations. During her time in this role Fernández Sánchez has invested a lot of energy in making the role of the in-house department integral in the outsourced cases, and the outcome of this reform is reflected in the increase of the success rate. The changes she has spearheaded include the internal reporting of the main litigation and pre-litigation, which has improved the business’s understanding of potential risks.