What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

I have had the opportunity to participate in various transactions, designs, and analysis of projects for portfolio diversification in the company. Unfortunately, the pandemic paralysed several projects, which we are just resuming, such as analysis of various structures for the sale of minority shareholdings to raise investment and analysis of acquisition or merger projects.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The pandemic has forced lawyers not only to think about law and business, but to be an important part of the company’s decision making, giving their vision and opinion from a strategy that not only prevents contingencies and anticipates what could come in terms of regulations or contracts, but also giving their point of view on the different growth strategies or opportunities in the market. Likewise, legal managers have shown that technology must be our ally in order to generate not only work efficiencies but also process automation and traceability of information.

What are some of the key developments – legal, geopolitical or otherwise – that have affected your business over the past year?

Having a portfolio mostly concentrated in shopping centres, the pandemic was a severe blow to the business. During the first few months, the government issued various regulations that dictated absolute quarantine for over two months, which forced us to have our malls only operating for shops selling necessities and with significant capacity restrictions. The regulations, with many loopholes and wording that was open to different interpretations, meant great instability for business. In this situation, many tenants asked for discounts and financing and others decided to pay their exit penalties, thus breaching their contracts, generating large vacancies. Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most Our internal clients are becoming more and more demanding with the information they receive, they are no longer only looking for a legal answer to their queries, but they expect to receive them in a didactic and efficient way with alternative and innovative solutions. In this regard, a corporate lawyer should not just ensure knowledge of business and law, but also keep an open mind and be aware of new technological strategies to cover needs. A lawyer should create a brand or identity and thus have a line of communication that is quickly and conscientiously received and taken up by clients. Technology should also help in-house counsel to organise and automate processes. If we use technology to our advantage, it can help us to start focusing more on strategy and less on basic document preparation.