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

In general terms, we have been negotiating various PPP rebalance processes, one of which is a pending decision from an arbitral court.

We have also been involved in a PPP refinancing process and several investment projects in the last few years.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

It is indisputable that Legal Tech has become very important in the day-to-day of a corporate legal team. Whether we are talking about contract management, for example, or just DocuSign truth is all these technologies have simplified the day-to-day tasks and have helped in the organisation of the team, leaving more time for intellectual work and for a performance more dedicated to the business instead of being focused only on abstract legal views of the problems.

It is impossible not to mention specifically Chat GPT’s role in the future and its impact on lawyers’ work and way of doing things. It must be managed and understood as an opportunity to improve and evolve. It will allow in-house lawyers to be more agile, dynamic, technological and open-minded to the business.

The consequence of having a more tech legal area will be an opportunity for the in-house lawyer… Since everything is legal!

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

Everything is legal! Every strategy, project or idea depends on a previous legal assessment to be implemented. Hence, in-house legal departments are and should be a transversal department of a company with extensive access to all the other areas and teams and an essential role in the decision-making process. People drive change. In-house lawyers, with their expertise, considerable knowledge of the business and, most of all, the opportunity to build people’s trust in them, are particularly well placed to lead by example, to influence, defend, implement, explain, show, and spread the values and culture of a company throughout the several areas of business and therefore to promote change. Change to innovative, sustainable, disruptive, and agile processes and products, and change towards a more inclusive, modern, sustainable, and innovative way of management.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

The time of waiting for problems to arrive is over. In-house lawyers must look to the horizon and anticipate what is coming. The world is changing daily, and it is difficult to keep

up. Corporate legal teams must think ahead and outside the box to anticipate potential risks, liabilities, and problems. And for that, it is crucial to have a vast knowledge of the business, namely the company’s operations. Only with this knowledge will the in-house lawyers be able to add value to the industry, providing solutions and legal assessments aligned with the processes and contributing to the definition of the company’s strategies.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

I believe in-house lawyers must be available to participate in decision-making actively, providing their legal perspective, expertise, and experience to the management’s challenges. This includes being open to taking measured risks and defending solutions jointly with the other departments instead of just staying apart from the decision-making. This role as an active partner of the business, more than an advisor, will build other people’s trust in in-house lawyers and strong relationships with business partners.