Could you tell us a bit about your significant successes in your role?

I have been involved in several complex legal matters, such as the negotiation and execution of a master franchise agreement for the exclusive development of one of our brands in Latin America, particularly in Uruguay, as well as a global corporate restructuring of one of our brands to simplify its operations. Additionally, I am currently involved in a complex negotiation and execution of a joint venture, with a leading company in Europe, which aims to significantly reduce the production and import costs of Alsea inputs, thereby giving our clients the best quality products and increasing the company’s sales.

In your opinion, what are the qualities and skills needed to form a strong legal team?

A strong legal team is composed of solid leadership, which allows the team to perform at its best and give its members the confidence to develop qualities and skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. Such skill development can be achieved by allowing the team members to look for better ways of doing things and find creative solutions to everyday challenges. Doing so, the team can develop strong communication with the other areas in the company and within the team itself, which in turn, gives the company the chance to face all the potential problems that may arise.

What is the biggest risk to your industry or organisation and how are you contributing to prepare your organisation for this?

Some potential risks in our company, in addition to those generated by the pandemic, include the renegotiation of several agreements with franchisees and suppliers derived from the different changes to the legislation in Mexico. In labour law, we are actively developing stronger contracts whose main objective is to fulfil all legal requirements, which have become more and more strict over the years, and give certainty to the parties involved. We need to start preparing the company by developing some legal opinions and strategies to mitigate the risks generated by the latest changes in policy which are suspiciously moving towards input price controls to offset inflation. This will compel the legal team in Alsea to develop different alternatives that allow the company to seek the best results possible, operate at peak performance and yield optimum gains. Undoubtedly, the legal team will need to make use of their collective experience and expertise.