How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The role of the in-house counsel has become more strategic over the course of the pandemic. General counsel have taken part in decision-making at the highest levels of their organisations. While that was a process already in place, the pandemic contributed to speeding it up leading the role to become more strategic and advisory than in the past; it is likely to carry on in the future, especially considering the complexity of new legislations and risks that the pandemic brings with it. Additionally, the pandemic had a significant impact on IT solutions – at Nestlé, we have recently developed a functional excellence programme for the legal and compliance departments that introduced specific IT tools aimed at increasing the level of automatisation of several repetitive legal tasks, thus allowing the legal team to deliver on more strategic and complex legal areas.

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

The Nestlé Group in Italy is active in several market groups; therefore, we deal with a variety of legal affairs daily. The past month, the legal team was involved in advising on the divestment of a water business division, the acquisition of a health science business and the negotiation of contractual documents related to the expansion and renewal of the SanPellegrino plant. We have been successful in defending against certain advertising claims concerning pet food market. Furthermore, our legal team has renegotiated several leases of agreements of our Nespresso shop as consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

The advice I always give to lawyers who want to move in-house is to immerse themselves into the business they will work for – understand the economic drivers, the competition landscape and speak the same language of businesspeople. It is important not to be afraid of over-stepping the legal fence; you should let your opinion about products, processes, and any other aspect of business be heard. An organisation that is healthy appreciates opinions from the in-house team. General counsel do not need to produce legal papers, instead they are there to help the business flourish and to support it. It is crucial to be imaginative and find creative solutions to benefit the company.