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? 

Continuous innovation and a certain dose of ingenuity in identifying legal solutions are the tools of the trade for our team, considering the characteristics of our organisation. Having said that, rather than pinpointing a specific example of an innovation, I would emphasise the evolution process that our legal team has undergone over the past years.  

We started off seven years ago building from scratch the legal department of what, at the time, was a start-up which relieved fully on external counsel for legal work.  Initially, the legal team focussed on building the requisite legal and compliance infrastructure and more generally, providing technical-based advice on a variety of matters in connection with the structuring, documentation and implementation of portfolio investments.   

Building upon the above, the legal team morphed into a provider of business value-added advice, contributing to decision making and becoming an integral element of the core investment team.  This transition brought about an expanded role for the legal department: that of partner of the investment team and standing member of the team of individuals making decision on a given investment or portfolio company.  In practice, this resulted in the legal department doing in house a significant portion of the legal work  participating to commercial negotiations, being consulted regularly and engaging with external counsel (including adverse counsel) and legal teams of investors, partner banks and portfolio companies and, more generally, taking an active part at each step of a transaction, including the structuring, negotiation, documentation, internal authorisation and stakeholder management as well as maintenance of the investment.  

The more rewarding evolution of the legal department is towards becoming a sounding board for the entire organisation and its individuals, advising on the full spectrum of issues facing a sophisticated platform such as Pillarstone and becoming a key point of contact for a variety of stakeholders, including investors, partners, counterparties, portfolio companies and the legal and compliance teams in other countries where Pillarstone operates. 

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

The key one from my perspective will be an expanded role of general counsel in respect of ESG and sustainability. In an article that I recently co-authored together with Bruno Cova (a partner of Greenberg Traurig) and Mark Howard (chief compliance officer for International Markets at KKR) we discussed how ESG is capable to affect all the key domains within the purview of inside counsel; as such, and though there is no one-size-fits-all, also because ESG is way more complex than simply complying with legal standards, identifying, addressing and monitoring relevant sustainability issues ought to be considered part of the duties of inside counsel. I would expect that mapping and assessing ESG risk, counselling the board in navigating fiduciary duties in respect of the ramifications of ESG and ESG integration across the entire business model of the company be themes high on the agenda of general counsel for the years to come. 

How do you stay updated on the evolving regulatory landscape in Italy and ensure compliance with domestic laws, EU regulations, and industry-specific regulations?   

We aim to prioritise horizon scanning as part of our day-to-day efforts: legal astuteness, i.e., the process of creating competitive advantage and identifying opportunities based upon the evolving legal and regulatory landscapes is a concept that I am very fond of.  

Newsletters, legal journals and periodic update meetings with our network of external counsel are obvious sources of information and updates.  As regards, specifically, compliance, we have a formalized programme of comprehensive periodic review, including with the help from external advisors, to ensure that our understanding of key compliance risks and the regulatory and compliance frameworks be always up to scratch. 

In addition to the above, we find that interactions with our investment team and external partners and stakeholders often provide incredibly valuable insights on how the evolving legal and regulatory landscapes might impact the industry and actors in the broader market.