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

I was appointed as general counsel for Celepsa in January 2021. Along with the challenge of building the legal department from scratch during the pandemic, I had the task of collaborating with the business development team on two significant transactions. The shareholders decided to enter a private bid to acquire a renewable energy business. With external counsel, we were responsible for delivering an agreement that considered all kinds of risks. Additionally, the legal department is now involved in obtaining all permits pertaining to the biggest solar project in Peru (250MW). The challenge is obtaining such permits before December 2025, considering Perú´s actual political risk and the worldwide supply chain crisis. Since January 2021, the legal department has grown from one member to seven people, three of whom are engineers.

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

Lawyers are prone to printing and revising, as well as to requesting physically executed documents. The pandemic has digitalised the work for all the legal services industry, specifically in–house legal departments. Therefore, we need internal lawyers to be bold and confident in their approach to technology. I am sure many old-school lawyers sailed through difficult waters when the pandemic locked us all. Given the challenge I was presented with of developing Celepsa’s legal department from scratch, I had to introduce tools to help me organise and cope with in-house demands. We are now developing tailor-made contracts software, a digital archive and procedures that will approximately save 40% of the teams´ time dedicated to operative tasks.

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

Perú has a new presidential regime, which is left orientated, like the rest of South America. This new political scenario in Perú has generated speculation affecting the exchange rate and producing the flee of investments. This is summed to the pandemic, which has produced a supply chain collapse which has directly affected project development and national and foreign investments. Despite the complications, Celepsa has managed to be financially wise and, in uncertain times, made an offer to acquire a third party’s renewable energy business. This has helped motivate the entire team and attract confidence from other investors.