Agriculture is among the region’s biggest industries – how does the legal team assist the company in remaining competitive and innovative?

Air Liquide is not directly involved in agricultural business, although the technical gases that the company produces, distributes, and sell have, among others, several applications in the food industry and in the agricultural industry. In this respect, the legal team provides the company with the relevant legal expertise and skills for ensuring compliance and competitiveness in the development of new applications and innovations by acting as a business partner for the success of the various projects. For example, in the development of biogas projects where farming plays a crucial role, the legal department ensures the compliance of all the value chain, for achieving all project milestones from upstream to downstream and to the end user of biomethane.

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

The legal department turned out to be the ‘pivot function’ for most of the topics that companies addressed during these extraordinary times. It has become essential to keep pace with fast legislative changes, sometimes occurring daily, in an environment where the need to ensure the safety of the employees has become one of the most stringent priorities.

Because of the pandemic, as in-house counsel we learnt that we can be a lot faster, effective, and flexible. The role of the general counsel in this environment was and still is to prevent and address legal risks in an adequate manner and ensure that the decision-making process is smooth and based on sound legal grounds. Moreover, thanks to the pandemic we learnt that we must take care of our teams because they are the most precious resource that the company has.

What do you feel are the pros and cons of an in-house legal role compared to a private practice one?

Regarding the in-house legal role, one of the pros is being ‘in the middle of the action’. When working in a fast-moving environment, there are professional challenges while working closely to the business and following projects directly. Soon, industrial changes will have to be implemented, especially in the energy transition and the European Recovery Fund Plan, so in-house will be the best place to be to play a role in shaping industrial changes.

Private practice roles are also ideal for professional growth and typically offer wider possibilities to cover different business sectors, therefore allowing professionals to ‘cross-fertilise’ based on the experiences and projects supported in the different industries. In both roles I think that one of the cons is the long working hours and being overloaded, a risk that should be prevented with very robust and sound organisation.