About

Prior to beginning her in-house career at the Italian entity of the international electronic and healthcare company Phillips in 2002, Paola Nocerino worked in two law firms in Milan, following admission to the Italian Bar in Rome. After instantly making a positive impression on her peers with her strong work ethic and leadership skills, Nocerino was promoted to general counsel of Philips Italy within four years of joining. Nocerino has been in her current role as general counsel of the legal and corporate department at Air Liquide Italy, the industrial and healthcare gases and services international company, since December 2009. Following her arrival, Nocerino’s focus was to move the legal department from a “firefighting” role to one of early identification and prevention of risks. As a result, ‘the legal team is now fully involved at an early stage in the evaluation of new projects and facilitates management at all levels in the decision making process’. Working in close cooperation with CEO and senior managers to define and identify the priorities of the legal department, Nocerino provides legal support for a sustainable growth of the company business. Asked about the most significant challenges in her professional in-house career to date, Nocerino replies: ‘The challenge is to adjust the role of the legal counsel to the transformation of a traditionally innovative company while maintaining an excellent level of service in a timely and effective manner’.