An insurance specialist for his entire career, Paulo Marinho joined Ascendi Portugal in 2001 and was made legal manager in 2003. Since then, he has been ‘involved in international projects’, which ‘was a new challenge’ for him in his career, but he mentions that he has succeeded in these along with ‘great external lawyers’.

His time at the helm of the legal team has provided him with a clear view as to what combination of factors leads to the creation of a great in-house team. ‘I believe that the main objective of an in-house lawyer is to achieve internal prestige and gain the confidence of the board’, he explains, and ‘I would say that I’ve succeeded in this. At the same time I have been humble enough to admit that there have been some things we could not do’.

Marinho has also empowered his team members to achieve their potential, through constant reinforcement and providing them with the opportunity to do so. ‘I have tried to give lots of independence to those that work with me’, he says. ‘I tried to make sure they have an area of specialist skill and that they know broadly what goes on so they can intervene and the win matters that they are trained to do without my input’.