Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?   

In the past year and a half, we embarked in a deep rethinking of the functional purpose and priorities of the legal department. In fact, while on one hand the array of legal challenges is expanding, especially in the food and beverage sector, on the other I had the impression that too often my team was asked to perform low value adding services, such as drafting and revision of basic legal agreements, review of semi legal documents and so on. 

We, thus, posed to ourselves the question as to where the in-house department can make a difference for the company by providing advice in its own capacity, and where does it effectively manage outside counsel or similar external capacity. By prioritising the areas of legal need we were able to redefine our scope and thus allow us to render a better service to the business by focusing on value adding strategic works and outsourcing the most repetitive activities.  

Moreover, along with out IT department we defined key performance indicators for the legal department which not only allowed us to have an overview of how the legal department was doing overall by means of a user-friendly dashboard which it revealed to be also extremely useful for the way results are presented to the business.  

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years?    

I can identify a few key developments that are changing the business landscape and impacting the general counsel role. The first one is cyber risks. As companies grow their digital footprints, this opens more opportunities for cyber criminals. Threats such as ransomware attacks and phishing are becoming increasingly sophisticated and prevalent, creating new legal considerations and challenges. Up until recently, cyber policies were directed by the IT team. 

More and more, legal teams will play a central role in helping the business understand, prepare for, and address cyber threats. Second is inflationary pressure. Soaring inflation is pushing up the cost of business in Europe and unfortunately Italy is no exception. As one of the leading FMCG companies in the world Nestlé sees inflation with concerns not only for the impact this has on its value chain but also for its internal functions. Controlling costs has long been a concern for in-house counsel since corporate legal departments have traditionally been evaluated by financial metrics. Now, with inflation hitting new heights, General Counsels could come under increased pressure from the board to control expenses.  

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment? 

Diversity and inclusion are our everyday reality at Nestlé. We respect and encourage uniqueness and potential regardless race, gender, culture, sexual orientation or disability. To this extent, we as a legal team recruit people who respect our values, we provide equal opportunities for all, and we protect everyone’s privacy. 

In Italy, we have a diversity and inclusion action plan designed to provide equal opportunities for everyone to contribute, grow and feel valued. This is reflected in the composition of our legal team which has a 50% gender balance composition with a diverse mix of age and experiences.