Team size: 170  

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?   

First by understanding well the situation, then with creativity and exhaustivity, thinking about solutions outside of the box, discussing with team and advisors, and finally going into action quickly and efficient.    

We make sure we train ourselves by being part of all the business and strategic decisions. We put ourselves in the business shoes, to truly deepen our understanding of the commercial needs.  

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

Recently, I have led the biggest tax contingency ever faced by the insurance sector in Mexico, that is still ongoing.  I was also part of the team that managed the claims and contingency aroused from hurricane OTIS. I have also taken part in the transaction to acquire a health insurance company in México. I led the implementation of improved anti money laundering and compliance automatised tools.  Furthermore, I am leading a major programme to boost alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to avoid litigation by using also AI with case law.  

What strategies do you employ to ensure the successful digital transformation of a legal department while maintaining compliance with Mexico’s data protection laws?   

Despite that AXA has the highest compliance standards we have formally trained the whole legal department in AI Secure Chat GPT and have managed to create a strong but agile government to ensure a safe implementation but without losing the time to market opportunity in the inevitable digital transformation.  

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?    

Again, as a multinational insurance company we have ESG embedded in our culture and governance but we (the legal team) have also embedded in our culture the whole ESG spectrum. For example, we have proactively implemented a ProBono programme along relevant organisations such as Appleseed and the Centro Mexicano ProBono.  

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?   

The team I lead has a distribution of 70% women at a senior level and 46% at a more junior level. But internally we make sure that gender or other type of criteria are not the decision factor to choose. We are proud to have a merit-based culture that makes no distinction on gender or any race, nor sexual orientation.   

How do you manage and motivate your legal team to ensure high performance and professional growth?     

By leading with a human principle, making personal balance and mental health a priority; boosting soft skills, drafting individual career plans, sponsoring mentoring or coaching programs where lawyers can rely on senior executives, by implementing surveys where the team can express the feelings towards the labor climate and other values.  

In your opinion, what are the main trends that are salient in your country currently (these can be legal, political, economy or business-based)?   

The judicial reform that the current President has announced and that it is being discussed at Congress will change for sure the way justice is being administrated in México and will force lawyers to change and adapt to this new reality.