About

Critical to both the legal and strategic affairs of Canon España, the legal team at the company is led by Begoña Barberá, who in addition to her legal role is also the vice-secretary of board of directors at the Spanish arm of the global technology giant. As the global economic crisis created a number of difficulties for Canon, the legal team has made many internal improvements to generate cost efficiency. Whether these are through collaboration amongst themselves, automation of processes or developing training programmes to better equip the staff, the compact team of two lawyers and one non-lawyer has utilised a range of skills to protect the company through all of its activities. Canon España’s senior management and the legal team work in partnership with each other on a ‘close and permanent’ basis according to Barberá; operating in a collaborative environment ensures their reputation of ‘trusted advisors and counsellors’ is known and demonstrated at all levels of the company, both locally and with headquarters. Involved in several important cases and transactions, in particular the acquisition of printing companies Océ España and Océ Portugal, the team also assisted with the merging of all affiliates of Canon España in a single organisation, for which Barberá received a Canon President’s Award in recognition of her contribution to this success. Despite cost-driven issues and an increase in employee headcount after the company’s merger with Océ, the team has maintained a ‘continuous process of improving’. Displaying the deep integration between legal and business units, which Barberá calls a ‘culture of business partnership’, the legal team is subject to the outcome of sales and revenues as are all other areas of the business. To support this process the team is involved from the early stages of product and solutions launches, new business opportunities and potential conflicts, with the aim of ‘reducing the overall risk and increased costs that a late involvement would cause’. The team is particularly impressive in terms of versatility, having been present during conflicts, pre-litigation and litigation cases on the legal side, and also involved in EMEA-wide business projects that are ‘critical to the transformation of our company, creating processes, reducing risks, enhancing our technical knowledge and increasing our profitability’.