Can you tell us about your journey to becoming an in-house counsel? What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?   

Both of my parents were lawyers and hence, I was always immersed in a’“legal atmosphere’. However, like everyone else, I had doubts and looked for reassurance that law was the best choice for me. Fortunately, opportunity arose, and my college went on strike for a long time. 

I took this period to approach a judge and asked for the opportunity to get to clerk in his Court. I was 17 at the time and never stopped. Now, after 25 years working in both private and public sectors, every single day confirms I made the best decision.  

In your role as an in-house counsel, what are the main responsibilities and tasks you handle on a day-to-day basis?   

My position tends to be very versatile, but some activities remain constant, and business driven. I provide my internal clients, the board and senior management with legal counsel on a range of issues; draft, review, and negotiate high value contracts, agreements and other legal documents; closely interact I with external law firms for litigation and disputes including civil, commercial, labour, administrative and criminal matters; and carry out research in order to keep up-to-date on compliance programs and develop new policies or procedures in accordance with new regulations.  

I am also a corporate specialist in charge of the governance of the different legal entities in the region and provide internal trainings to the business areas on legal and compliance aspects.  

What are some of the key challenges you have faced as a rising star in-house counsel, and how have you overcome them?   

As a trustworthy Norwegian entity with over 150 years in the market, it is essential to translate these integrity principles into the different cultures where you have presence. In this region, sometimes it implies facing corruption at the highest levels, for which you need to be well prepared and apply your experience. This requires having a calm and self-assured personality to protect your company and show zero tolerance to corrupt practices. The bigger the roll of the company, the bigger the challenges and implications.  

In recent years I have been able to properly negotiate highly mediatic contracts with the adequate provisions to protect the company which in the end, allowed us to develop and deliver services properly against politicians´ pressures and entire governmental legal bodies trying to deviate. This could entail personal attacks, but adversity is a great teacher, and, in the end, it has always reinforced my love for law, that I am working for the right company and the need keep preparing myself to meet the challenges to come.    

What steps have you taken to enhance your professional development and expand your legal skill set?   

Being a regional counsel could be seen as a challenge itself; different legal systems, languages, and cultures. To be able to succeed you need to keep moving forward, studying, researching, listening.  

I have been lucky to study my JD in the best Spanish speaking law school in the world (UNAM) but I needed to enhance my understanding of other legal systems. Hence, I completed an LLM in International Corporate Governance and Commercial Law at the University of York in the UK, a Master´s degree in Public Procurement at the Castilla-La Mancha University in Spain, a Diploma in Contract Law from Harvard Law School and recently started my PhD in Comparative Law. For this, Spanish is not enough; I have studied English and French and aim to learn Portuguese.