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

Since I have arrived at the Jeruth Corporation, I found myself with the challenge of creating the legal department of a corporation dedicated to various activities, including retail (with a large chain of stores), textile industry, real estate, and service. Speaking of specific cases in the last two years, we have been able to satisfactorily solve lawsuits that involved amounts of more than $1m), finally paying less than 5% of what was intended. We have created a multidisciplinary legal team —small but powerful — in which we say that ‘we are 4×4’, as we can identify all the issues that are raised to us, despite each team member having a defined area of expertise.

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 kept us apart, but it also reminded us how important it is to be together to manage legal issues. It was a time of adjustment and adaptation. It has definitely taught us to learn and manage the available tech tools. The role of the legal manager changed, and now we are able to understand people and their needs while at the same time satisfying our goals.

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

In the last year Peru has suffered a series of legal, geopolitical and political events that have the nation immersed in a serious crisis. We have seen how a group of people took control of the government without having the slightest knowledge of the state apparatus or its functioning. This has meant that the main state institutions were paralysed or with almost no progress. All business initiatives and investments were discouraged. Finally, something that has the whole country in turmoil is the number of mining conflicts throughout the country. Mining is the main economic activity in Peru, and if it could develop freely, we could easily navigate the effects of the global price and the food crisis. However, the government seems to play into the hands of anti-mining groups and does little or nothing to stop such social revolts against mining.

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

Platforms such as Teams, Zoom or Meet will continue to be used over time, since they have allowed judicial hearings to be held without the need to move, thousands of kilometres, with the economic and time cost that this implies. Despite how advanced technology can be, nothing can replace the experience, criteria, and passion of each individual lawyer.