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

The adjective that defines how the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel in my perspective is: remote —no physical contact and absence of face-to-face discussions, made it particularly challenging to carry out standard tasks. Accenture extends its presence in multiple countries. I currently oversee Italy, central Europe, and Greece, leading a team of approximately 30 professionals. It gets complicated even within Italy, considering that my team is divided between Rome, Milan and Turin. Remote meetings have been harder to schedule, especially in terms of matching availabilities; people struggled to keep their motivation high. There was no possibility to sit down with stakeholders, negotiate, set goals, and understand everyone’s point of view. Pre-pandemic I would just walk in the office, say hello to stakeholders and engage in conversation with them so to understand their opinions and ideas. Work-life balance has been impacted by the pandemic, too. Working remotely gave the impression that there were no working hours, and people felt they could call at any time. It was easier pre-pandemic, when people would see you leave the office, then it meant the day was over. Another substantial change involved the way of negotiating — online is more complex than in person. Last year we went through a six-hour negotiation to close a big deal and it was very tough to do everything behind a screen.

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

Pros and cons of an in-house role are quite subjective. One of the greatest pros is that GC are proper business partners. They develop a complete understanding of the business so that they can truly support specific transactions and act in the best interests of the company. I really enjoy the dynamicity of the role. My days are never the same and involve different tasks from drafting contracts, handling retention, speaking to HR, or even arranging trainings. It is way more than just sitting and writing the whole time. In law firms you offer professional services to create profit for the firm, but you do not really have a say. When you are internal, your value is not measured depending on how many clients you bring, but you become organic to the company. In addition, working in such a rich environment you have the chance to interface with many people each day, learning from one another. In terms of cons, I would say that the job involves lots of pressure, doing more with less; for example, when a company expands and increases revenue but does not have the possibility to hire new people.