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

I have been working with the Martifer Group for about fifteen years and I have already gone through, in a more dedicated way, all the business areas developed in the group and the various legal specialties linked to the Group, with a special focus on shipbuilding and corporate law. During this period, the legal department developed numerous projects, most recently the financial restructuring of the group, the consolidation of Martifer as the largest Portuguese shipbuilder and the re-establishment of its leadership in the execution of large projects in the metallic construction sector and of renewable energies. This dynamic requires a team of the legal department specialized in the various areas of action and in the core business every day, but with an always generalist and multidisciplinary approach, which allows the understanding of legal matters in an integrated and self-sufficient way.

During the last year, the legal department has therefore been involved in a wide range of projects, of which I note: (i) M&A operation relating to the sale of a wind project in Portugal; (ii) contracting the construction of the elliptical roof and access ramps to the new Gare de Noisy-Champs, a unique work in architectural terms; (iii) contracting the supply and assembly of railway viaducts, as part of the High Speed ​​Two project – the largest infrastructure construction project in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe (iv) contracting the conversion of diesel ships into LPG ships, allowing the reduction of CO2 emissions by significant tons/year. The implementation of the new whistleblowing and RGPC legal framework, with the application of the Group’s compliance program, brought and continues to bring significant changes to the procedures in force, based on the Group’s sustainability and ESG concerns.

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?

Naturally, the choice of external legal teams to support the work of the legal department is always considered and falls on lawyers who are aligned with the group’s values ​​and with the dynamics of the department, who understand its strategies and improve them. That demonstrate social, climate and governance concerns, that see the company in its operational, financial and corporate aspects. As a client, the in-house lawyer is more demanding not only in the result, but also in the way of working, and has the technical capacity to recognize these valences.

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

In-house lawyers are “players of a single club”, and as a result, they specialise in the core areas of activity of their companies, managing to develop their consultancy in a customized way, combining the legal vision with the strategy and operational needs. This global knowledge allows you to anticipate risks and define strategies, which position you in a prominent position with the administration. Added to this is a significant increase in the business community of generalized regulation, with the rooting of the ESG culture, and whose triple scope fits perfectly into the business culture of in-house lawyers, making them endowed with multidisciplinary knowledge that goes far beyond the area of ​​law, and which puts them in the ideal position to implement new procedures that will change their organizations.