How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  

During periods of instability or crises the legal department plays an important role and must be closely aligned with the business strategy to ensure the entire organisation’s resilience. The company might need the legal support also in terms of regulatory aspects. The laws can change, and new rules can suddenly be imposed. Legal support includes monitoring government directives and industry standards. The legal department must align with business also adjusting strategy to remain compliant to the regulations that might change, also in the light of protection of organisation’s reputation. 

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?  

Recently Pirelli has signed an important joint venture agreement in Saudi Arabia to build a tire manufacturing facility in the kingdom. The negotiation of this transaction has been a significant experience: the relevant legal framework is significantly different from those typical of Western countries, both civil law and common law. Consequently, the role of in-house counsel has been crucial: with the help of local counsel, they must assess and define the balances of the possible partnership, the peculiarities of the applicable law and the most effective ways of enforcing specific guaranteed rights, minimizing risks and seizing the opportunities offered by such framework. A partnership works well if it is well regulated in all aspects, with clear rules on roles, rights and obligations. 

What role does the legal department play in promoting and ensuring corporate social responsibility in your organisation?  

The legal department helps to integrate ESG into the organisation, ensuring that it not only operates ethically, legally and sustainably towards third parties, but must also ensure that third parties with whom the company does business meet standard ESG requirements. In every transaction, the legal department must raise the level of attention in the due diligence phase (in mergers, acquisitions, partnerships). Organising a due diligence process with a focus on ESG aspects requires the creation of structured team including experts in ESG area. In general, the DD Checklist shall include not only the ordinary assessment of environmental liabilities and risks (contamination, waste management) but also the energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and in general sustainability initiatives. Analyses of social conditions of a potential business partner will also have to be added to those of cybersecurity and data privacy to broaden the horizons and include all the ESG aspects that companies must look at to be competitive in the future.