About

Michelle Beckers joined independent enterprise-software provider, Rimini Street, as corporate counsel in 2008 after almost seven years in private practice and rose rapidly to senior corporate counsel, before being appointed managing counsel in 2013. Despite her relative youth, law firms highlight ‘an outstanding professional’ with a ‘truly strategic legal vision of the Latin American region’. This stems, in part, from her unique legal education. Obtaining ABA approval, she spent the second year of her law degree studying at Venezuela’s Universidad Católica Andrés Bello while she also worked as an intern at Baker & Mckenzie’s Caracas office, thereby gaining exposure to and experience of civil law. (Completing the International and Comparative Law certificate program upon her return, she won the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Comparative Legal Cultures). ‘Understanding Latin American business and legal cultures and having a “comparative law” background has allowed me to understand and effectively address the many intricacies of the legal systems and culture that often contribute to obstacles during legal and business negotiations when overlooked’, she notes. ‘The biggest challenge I have confronted is the need to help break down differences in culture and language so that all parties from all countries can recognize their mutual benefit to entering into a transaction together. There is wide disparity of culture from country to country and I have learned that the first and most important step in effective cross-border transactions is to listen, learn and be respectful of other cultures and customs’. Certainly this cultural sensitivity has translated into efficacy, with observers noting her ‘remarkable capability in terms of grasping things quickly and negotiating complex matters’. One senior partner says, ‘after many decades in legal practice, and having had a close interface with GCs, well, let’s just say she’s way above the average’. On external counsel she is very clear: ‘The best firms in Latin America function as our eyes and ears, as well as our conscience, in understanding the application of local law and sensitivities of local culture and custom’ as well as providing ‘prompt and responsive services’. Too often however ‘the information we receive is very much a reproduction of what is in statute or code, without much guidance as to how it should be interpreted and applied in practice’. It is ‘practical advice from outside counsel in Latin America that we really value’.