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

This year, I focused on learning a new area of law, and on the organisation and restructuring of doValue Portugal’s legal department, mainly by creating a digital archive and electronically archiving all work.

We focused on the day-to-day legal support of the company – which in a service-oriented company like doValue – involved monitoring corporate governance, drafting and negotiating various contracts in various areas – from financial to real estate – and with different people, from investors to service providers. We dealt with clients, external lawyers and partners, and closely monitored the legal framework and restraints that might impact the group’s strategies.

We were also involved in the first securitisation done by our group securitisation company. Being a company that can report to the Bank of Portugal was very important and required extreme dedication from the Zarco STC and DoValue Portugal teams and me.

Personally, entering what was a new business area for me was one of the biggest challenges of my career, but I believe I managed to overcome all the challenges efficiently and successfully.

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?

I have always advocated the use of technology in favour of legal teams – especially in house legal teams. Consequently, one of the first steps I took was digitalising all contracts and archiving them electronically, creating an electronic list of them. Another measure I took was the preparation of electronic file folders of all legal work, granting access to the entire legal team, as well as to company staff to relevant non-confidential information. We also prepared an IT and transformation area for the digital flow of information, contract signing and requests for legal opinions, among others.

Technology should always serve to save time and create team efficiency, especially in small teams with a large workload, as is increasingly common in legal departments. Tools such as Power Automate, Teams, and SharePoint, are becoming more and more essential for companies and their legal departments.

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?

Corporate legal teams must not be restricted to legal functions; they have to be business oriented and help the business by creating solutions without risks, and with respect for legal and compliance requirements. Corporate legal professionals must not forget that they must always protect the company.

It is necessary for teams to have a thorough understanding of the business and become indispensable to the management team, so that they become a trusted source of advice. Corporate legal must be a value-add to the company.