About

Heading all legal activities of Secil, Portugal’s leading cement producer, Filipe Pereira Coelho assumed his role in 2005 and since then has revolutionised the legal department. ‘My first step was to hire business-oriented lawyers who could potentially become business partners. I strove to build the link between our outsource firms and our business people (managers, engineers), and to accommodate business concerns and adapt it to the legal. Traditionally lawyers don’t allow you to do things, instead they raise obstacles. We wanted to be business oriented and understand the concerns of the people leading the business and help them, rather than limit them. All in all, I would say I managed to transform the mentality of the legal department, from a mere legal technical advisory role to being an integral part of the business’. The financial crisis and the Troika rescue program posed many challenges to Secil and it forced the company to redesign their strategy. ‘Our market reduced by a third, but we have to move on. That pushed us to explore new markets; we started to export and for the moment we are able to keep the plants open’ he adds. Currently the company has subsidiaries in Lebanon, Tunisia, Cape Verde, France, Spain and Brazil, and Pereira Coelho coordinates all international legal operations. Also company secretary, he sits on the board of directors and executive committee, which has given him a more influential position in the business legal strategy. Pereira Coelho also teaches at the Lisbon Catholic University of Law School.