How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organization’s resilience?

From the perspective of a legal leader, it is important to begin by pointing out that every event of instability and crisis generates an impact on people’s emotions. Therefore, before being able to perceive the extent and level of the problem that an organisation faces, we must concentrate on seeking a scenario of calmness, unity, and collaboration within the team. In other words, this is where emotional intelligence and empathy play a fundamental role in understanding the perspectives of each team member and thereby working within the team to find the best legal strategy to confront a problem in the most resilient and strengthened way possible.

With a strengthened and strategically aligned team, a greater impact can be achieved on the performance of a legal team in the face of a crisis scenario. This is where added value can be increased not only through good legal advice but also through the ability to make decisions calmly and strategically, seeking to mitigate each of the impacts that may arise – a perfect and direct example being what happened in the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is important to emphasise that usually, in the face of instability, the most natural reaction is to act immediately to address the problem, which often materialises into a legal measure. However, many times we overlook the fact that not all actions have the same result for an organisation, which is why it is essential to take a small pause within organizations to be able to identify the timing, feeling, environment, and maturity of a company when facing such moments of instability. This pause, however slight it may seem, allows for deeper reflection and analysis considering the perspectives of each area of the organisation, leading us to implement a more compatible and empathetic action plan with the mission, vision, and values of a company. This approach results not only in a satisfactory outcome at the operational and financial levels but, above all, in a positive impact vis-à-vis employees and organisational culture.

It is in this process that the legal function plays a primordial role in seeking a balance between the internal process of reflection and analysis, fulfilling a business counsel function that strategically connects all business units to customise the most adaptable legal measure, and the external result that is more focused on legal expertise to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

While organisations have been focusing on implementing measures and projects to highlight their actions in pursuit of sustainable development for some years now, the truth is that this “wish to have” has gradually shifted to a “must-have” in order to strengthen the vision, image, and reputation of a company not only with its stakeholders, governments, financiers, and national and international regulatory bodies, but especially with its consumers.

In this regard, sustainability plans have gained great prominence to the point of being consolidated and extending to other areas such as social and corporate governance. This allows for the consolidation of a solid backbone in terms of sustainability, transparency, and added value of businesses executed in strict compliance with applicable laws and international standards, now known as ESG Programmes.

For the implementation of this backbone, it is important to consider the legal leader as a strategic partner of such plans. This is due to the level of legal support required by these projects, ranging from the knowledge and adaptation of corporate governance policies to the verification of compliance with environmental, social, and labour legislation during the organisation’s activities and projects.

Thus, the legal department has the great opportunity to lead the strategy and strengthening of the compliance chapter of a company. This involves promoting and participating in ethics, fraud, conduct, and related committees, as well as collaborating with processes that ensure a transparent and proper exercise of the company’s commercial transactions. The legal department supports user areas for the implementation of onboarding programs and vendor due diligence. Additionally, it participates in sustainability reporting processes that require legal verification of regulatory compliance, particularly related to clean energy projects and other projects aimed at reducing an organisation’s footprint and generating a positive social impact.

These efforts highlight the quality and respect for the rights of each of the company’s collaborators and areas of direct influence, ultimately raising the reputational image of the company to lead by example in a very competitive market.