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

The activity of the various companies in the business group that we advise involves public and private contracting of various contractual objects, from different areas of intervention, mostly related to real estate development and the execution of works, as a general contractor, as well as various specialties of construction. My legal department intervenes from moment zero until the end of the life of the contract. We manage risks and interests, rights and obligations, expectations and realities, people and assets. 

This team has been in the legal department of the DST Group for just over a year. We have been monitoring many new businesses since the beginning, and we are managing others that are already in progress and in litigation. 

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this? 

This is an essential criterion for choosing external legal partners. The concept of intersectionality of values ​​between the company and external partners in ​​law is central, both in the field of ethics and in external communication, that is, in posture and attitude. At this point, resilience and excellence are sought to face the proposed difficulties and challenges. 

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change within their organisations?  

Because we know contracts and businesses from the beginning, even before the beginning, that is, from the formation of the will to hire, knowing the surroundings and circumstances, which proved to be very relevant, for example, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The unusual business environment created by the pandemic has been swiftly followed by other shocks. Are you now putting more emphasis on preparing for the unforeseen and, if so, what does this entail? 

The unforeseen gained a whole relevance and impact that it did not have before, not only on a legal level because this concern existed, but the players themselves gained awareness of the relevance that the pre-contractual and will-formation context has, as well as of the principle in good faith. With the pandemic and the impacts of the war, the institutes of changes in circumstances and force majeure gained contractual importance in the management of contract risks.