Prior to moving in-house in 2001, Mercedes Lara was employed in private practice, working at the trademarks and international patent agency, J. Isern, where she spent a decade advising leading companies across a diverse set of industries in Spain.

Her first in-house role was as the in-house counsel responsible for the competition area of Danone’s Spain and Portugal operation, where she spent eight years. Lara then spent two years as a legal manager for South Western Europe (Spain, Portugal and Israel) at Reckitt Benckiser, and assumed her current general counsel position at Unilever in 2010. A lawyer with a clear aptitude and passion for resolving issues within the consumer products sector, Lara has become an invaluable part of the company’s management team in Spain. ‘Being part of the country leadership team at Unilever has led to the definitive development in terms of my path to management,’ she states. ‘It has been an enormous opportunity to professionalise the legal function and to be considered a trusted advisor who adds real value to the business’.

Over her nearly two-decade in-house legal career Lara has impressed with her second to none managerial skills and ability to establish well organised and coherent legal functions. ‘In all the companies I have worked for, I have tried to develop the team,’ Lara says. ‘Every one of us has values and knowledge that are not always evident. I like to help my colleagues to find in themselves what their real values are and how they can explore and explode them. Empowering and constantly challenging my team allows me to get the best out of everyone’.