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

On one hand, regarding the financial crisis that the aeronautical industry has been through due to the pandemic, the legal area has been leading the local implementation of the financial restructuring process under the U.S. Chapter II regulations; following a preventive financial restructuring process file before INDECOPI to obtain credits and facilities from our suppliers. For this purpose, the legal area oversaw the execution of a DIP (Debtor in Possession) in Peru to raise capital to finance the continuity of the operation. On the other hand, following the strict and constantly changing governmental regulations concerning Covid-19, the legal area has been monitoring them, supervising their implementation, and has been an important stakeholder in promoting their progressive elimination.

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 brought challenges that had to be addressed in an unprecedented way. The aviation industry was seriously impacted, which required tough decisions to be made internally within the company. In view of this, the legal area was the main support team for the other areas in the execution of such measures. In this sense, the legal area is currently in charge of monitoring, communicating, and leading the implementation of the new and constantly changing pandemic regulations. The in-house legal areas have taken on a greater role since the pandemic and have had to assume greater responsibilities. In the face of this, general counsel has a key role to play, which is to keep each member motivated. In addition, following these changes, it is already known that there is a trend towards the growth of in-house legal areas, given the increased specialisation, and less reliance on law firms.

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

Since 2020, the aviation industry faces major challenges, given the impact of the pandemic and considering that Peru is one of the world’s largest international flight destinations of LATAM Group. Both the restrictive measures adopted by the Peruvian government, as well as by the governments of the flight’s destinations, affected the level of the company’s regular operations, and therefore its revenues. Also, the persistent conflict between Russia and Ukraine has impacted the aviation sector, as it has implied a rise in the price of fuel. Finally, the legal areas have the challenge of adapting to the different political and regulatory tendencies of each change of government. Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Nowadays, technology is redefining the legal field. Technological developments have helped simplify and streamline the tasks of in-house lawyers; the traditional law books have been replaced by online databases, digital contracts are now the new way of closing transactions, and governmental services are now offered through digital media. Thus, the legal areas will have greater capacity to be focused on strictly legal tasks, increasing the amount of work that can be seen in-house; but it will also be a new challenge to develop competencies in management, innovation, and supervision of technological resources.