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

Leading the legal team of a company of Adecco’s size, with nearly 10,000 employees in Peru, is both a challenge and a great opportunity. Specifically, I value the interrelationship with the public administration, especially in terms of the labour sector, in which context we had to take the necessary actions to guarantee the company’s rights, as well as to transform our business in light of the important and regulatory changes proposed by the current government.

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 undoubtedly presented us with a major challenge; both for the leader and the entire legal team. We have moved from a micro-management model to one based on objectives, deliverables with more flexibility on how to achieve them. Likewise, this new work model–in our case, hybrid- requires us to be very responsible with time management, to have efficient meetings (both face- to-face and remote) and, above all, to be more assertive and clearer when communicating. Working remotely does not necessarily imply a lower quality of deliverables. On the contrary, it has created the opportunity to challenge us to make better use of shared time, to come up with ideas and strategies that we can use to work independently, without the need to be in constant communication with the whole team.

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

Undoubtedly, three important factors converged for business in Peru: political instability, with an equivocal government and little popular acceptance; the rise in international prices, the fall of the main stock markets, as well as the concurrent inflation in a large part of the world, as a consequence, among others, of the war in Europe; and, of course, the pandemic, as well as the restrictions on mobility generated by it.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

Technology is not only important but also indispensable for the management of the legal area, the assignment of tasks, their follow-up and the correct administration of contracts. Thus, in order to give sustainability to a legal area, so that it can really generate value for the company, it must necessarily rely on IT tools that allow it to keep a detailed control of its workload, trying to meet the needs of the business efficiently, effectively and in the shortest possible time.