Team size: Nine

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?

Innovation came out as a simplification effort for the whole subsidiary. With four business divisions, some commercial documents were treated as legal matters and done four times to include the general guidelines and the specifics for each division. The simplification I came up with was doing one commercial (non-legal) document instead, including the company’s general guidelines and the specifics for the four divisions. This is a yearly process that reduced internal workload for my team and other functions, reduced the document from 26 to 3 pages, and allowed all documents to be sent at the same time to all the customers.

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

A key development will continue to be flexibility. Flexibility came with the pandemic, to stay. Employees have experienced the advantages of working from home, allowing them to organise and balance their life differently and still deliver excellent results. Flexibility on schedule and location will be more and more demanded by employees and given how formal and traditional the legal world still is, will force us to think out of the box and ensure our in-house lawyers have all they need to feel and perform at their best.

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

Main trends are digital and e-commerce. During the pandemic, consumers got used to buying on-line multiplying x7, and the trend continues. The purchasing experience of a consumer when deciding to buy a lipstick or a skin-care product on-line is fundamental to win in the beauty sector.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

L’Oréal in Mexico has key sustainability goals as using green energy, reducing water waste and using sustainable packing materials. As the general counsel, my role is to ensure these transformations are done in compliance with the law, selecting the appropriate suppliers and securing that the newly implemented models deliver sustainable results mid-long term.