Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved the way your legal team works and didn’t come at a huge cost? 

I was involved in changing the procurement and purchasing policy used within the company, by establishing thresholds for the contracts to be approved, after discussing with finance and procurement departments. This saved time in the contract approval process and there were no external costs involved.  

At little cost, I worked with former colleagues from different departments to archive documents at an external provider’ logistics centre, with the ability to access them electronically or physically. 

I participated in testing and implementing a new platform for contract’ management – creating templates within the platform, uploading scanned executed documents, sending alerts three months before the termination date of the contract or addendum, among others.  

What are some of the key developments (legal, geopolitical or otherwise) that have affected your business over the last year?  

The renewable energy market in Romania is impacted by legislative developments in real-estate, construction, and fiscal areas, among others; regulatory requirements; grid capacity; and other economic factors which have an impact on the investors’ decisions. 

Due to manufacturing issues, there have been delays in the delivery of equipment necessary for the construction of a renewable energy project; a developer may wait up to 14 months for a delivery of trafo stations. Also, in the process of obtaining authorizations for a power plant, delays may occur due to local authorities’ practices which are not uniform in Romania.  

How do you think the in-house legal role will evolve in the coming years?  

The in-house legal role is constantly evolving due to legislative, economical, geopolitical changes, which have a major impact on businesses and on legal activities. In-house lawyers must play a complex role as strategic advisors, business partners, and risk managers and, from my point of view, this will not change in the coming years. The legal department must be constantly prepared for challenges in response to the changing business environment.  

Do you use any “legal technology” products and, if so, what areas of your work do you find it most useful for? 

We use a ticketing system to track requests coming from business colleagues to the legal department; management uses electronic signature; and we have an archiving platform for keeping the executed versions of documents.  

The company also uses a platform for approving the invoices received from suppliers, including invoices received from external lawyers who contribute to our projects.