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

The previous path on my legal practice in law firms, granted me a full legal scope and the different specialities that coexist during a client’s project, also my mentors taught me to be thorough in my legal advice and execution to protect said clients. But I always wanted greater proximity with the products and services that are changing the financial and technology markets, without missing the day-to-day action and embodiment of the project. Also, I wanted to take further challenges, and since the law is always a posteriori to the innovation and changes in the market, what better place to learn and challenge yourself, than being an in-house counsel where it is happening.  

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

I’m in charge of all data privacy and regulatory matters, and administrative proceedings, always trying to implement new policies and work tools to never miss a deadline and protect the company’s budget. I also provide legal advice to the business aiming towards the implementation or new features in a product, customer service and enhancement of in-house infrastructure and cybersecurity; so basically, as previously mentioned the day-to-day action and embodiment of the projects with main stakeholders of the Business.  

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

The first key challenge was to find balance and create a better harmony between the enforcement of policies or processes to increase and boost the legal protection of the company without affecting the innovation and creativity of the business. It is a reality that as in-house counsel, we may be considered as stoppers or bureaucratic, so I’m trying my best to create this harmony, so we are always seen as allies, since we are all part of the same company, wanting to achieve the best for our customers. 

The second key challenge is to learn more of your jurisdiction and other parts of the world. Being an in-house counsel has taught me that you need to have the ability to learn at least the basic legal concepts of jurisdictions, not only for the assessment of contracts, but also, to be prepared for the breakthrough of the business in other countries and be humble to accept what you don’t know and how fast can you learn. Your legal knowledge and skills must grow in proportion to the growth of the Business and the emerging markets. 

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

Always taking advantage of forums, academic articles, and online workshops, both for legal and other careers. It is essential to take it further and understand where the market is evolving to, the stakeholders you are advising and the constant breakthrough in technology. This has helped me to provide an ad-hoc advice to principal stakeholders and challenge myself to provide creative legal solutions.