Legal partner manager | MetLife México
Miriam Hernández Serratos
Legal partner manager | MetLife México
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming an in-house counsel? What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?
I started working at MetLife six years ago. It has been a path of constant learning and growth. I have had the opportunity to get to know the company in depth and that has inspired me to continue here because I learn something and get challenged daily, and I visualise a long-term career development. I find opportunities to lead every day and that gives me glimpses of an inspiring future.
In your role as an in-house counsel, what are the main responsibilities and tasks you handle on a day-to-day basis?
I am responsible for providing advice and support to the areas of human resources and fraud, waste, and abuse. Together with the human resources area, I implement initiatives in favour of employees as well as mandatory regulations on labour issues, as well as advising on queries related to employee issues, such as contracts, benefits, and terminations.
On the fraud prevention side, I support the fraud, waste and abuse area and compliance to contain fraudulent issues that may exist, generating action plans together with them to prevent and mitigate risks. Additionally, I follow up, together with external offices, the criminal complaints under their responsibility.
Last but not least, I am involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives within the company, leading the Womens Business Network in Mexico, generating actions in favour of gender equality.
What are some of the key challenges you have faced as a rising star in-house counsel, and how have you overcome them?
The implementation of various labour regulations that implied managing internal changes and, without a doubt, the implementation of different actions inside and outside the company due to the Covid-19 pandemic have been great challenges.
What steps have you taken to enhance your professional development and expand your legal skill set?
I constantly ask for feedback on my performance to see where I can improve. In addition, I am attentive to changes and modifications in the regulations in order to manage what is necessary in a timely manner. Additionally, I am receptive to implementing actions that may allow me to generate faster and more effective solutions, such as technological and innovative tools.