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?

As the world’s largest fleet management company managing 1.5 million vehicles, producing the right documentation, contracts, collateral, and guarantees for our assets is critical to maintaining a healthy portfolio. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the global legal team has been focused on maintaining ongoing business, a superior client experience, and ensuring that our legal processes and documentation are completed accurately.

The legal team successfully designed and launched a continuous improvement program to automate the legal function, while maintaining our ability to customise our products according to clients’ needs. We launched a complete methodology to make it easier to do business with us, including electronic signatures and training for clients, plus electronic legal processes for the preparation of contracts, collateral documentation and guarantees, registration with the relevant government authorities and the application of robots to facilitate the reservation and configuration of our agreements.

This strategy continues to improve and strengthen our ESG program by saving thousands of hours of work and paper. In the case of Mexico, our business stands out as a successful example of automating legal operations.

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

The general counsel (GC) must find a balance within the organisation, assuming the role of both a guardian of the company and its assets, and a business partner to other departments in order to facilitate business growth. The role of the GC has evolved into that of an advisor possessing deep expertise in legal affairs, market dynamics, and internal and external factors that might affect the company. Hence, the GC’s function should be understood and evolve into that of the primary counsellor to the CEO and Board.

What are some of the main trends impacting the industry sector you work in in Mexico?

We must adopt and embrace the new normal in the way of doing business, ensuring that the company’s mandate is fulfilled within the ethics that it requires. Strong compliance, ethics, ESG sense and a 360-degree view are a must.