Team size: 14

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

In-house legal teams are taking on more responsibilities within their company’s tech ecosystem, because technology is no longer just ‘nice-to-have’. The teams which are not moving in this direction may be left behind. The challenge now is to leverage technology to protect, serve the company and decide which technologies to embrace to drive significant business outcomes.

We believe that the role of in-house legal teams will be seriously impacted by blockchain applications in the legal environment (for example in the design and automation of contracts – “smart contracts”, that will bring questions about legal implications, opportunities and risks; machine learning (due diligence review, regulatory compliance review, contract negotiation), artificial intelligence systems to create highly standardised documents such as non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements, and robotic process automation for highly detailed but low added value, step-by-step tasks. There will also be impact by chatbots that can provide easy access to information and make contracts interactive, and cloud applications that run on third party servers and connect to users’ computers.

Overall, the use of any technology will also bring increasing threat to cybersecurity, and that is the number one litigation risk exposure for company’s business, so data security will be also on the top of the priorities for in-house legal teams.

The role of in-house legal teams has evolved from legal advisers and risk audit to a broader role as business partners in strategy and operations, so it is essential to look for better ways to stay informed to proactively help in solving business problems, driving growth, and delivering higher productivity. For this to happen, legal departments will have to adapt to quickly and increase their spending on legal technology.

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected the company and the team’s priorities?

In Portugal, we are the largest private sector forestry landowner, managing 112 thousand hectares in mainland Portugal and the Azores. Our social responsibility policy also translates our deep connection with the forest. The forest is one of the most important pillars for the sustainability of the company’s business for many years, we ensure we are always acting in accordance with a set of principles and rules on responsible management, which reconcile environmental, social, and business concerns. All of this is linked to climate change and sustainability, where we are strong leaders in Portugal. The legal department has been conscious of these themes, which it works on extensively. ESG concerns and projects, as well as governance have also been prioritised by our team.