Team size: Five

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

My team and I are organised around P&Ls and deeply embedded into business operations and aligned with broader business commitments and KPIs. We support a number of 34 markets in CEE as well as in Adriatic, Mediterranean Islands, Balkans, South Europe, Baltics, Ukraine, Belarus, Israel, Middle Caucasus and Central Asia. These markets are incredibly diverse with 7 time zones, 32 languages, various social patterns, consumer behaviors and purchasing power. Moreover, some are impacted by military conflicts (Ukraine, Israel) or face economic challenges.

During such times, we focus on ethical business practices, risk mitigation, compliance by monitoring the regulatory frameworks and governance, in addition to the regular end to end ownership of legal matters and day-to-day business operations’ support. We put a additional efforts on risk mitigation with both an element of proactiveness (BCPs, scenario planning, defence strategies, corporate governance and communication) and reactiveness (post-crisis recovery and growth)

In summary, we run the internal Legal and Compliance function as a business being guided by an end to end accountability, aiming to increase efficiencies, the quality of the output and be permanently connected to business objectives during VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity,) times .

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

In current time the role of an in-house lawyer is becoming more complex and challenging. In a more globalised and technologically driven corporate environment the stakes are higher and the consequences of getting it wrong can be severe. Therefore, artificial intelligence such as chat bots, automation tools, knowledge management tools or contract management systems shall definitively play a greater role in the years to come as they put information at your fingertips so you know how long any piece of work should take and how much it should cost.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?

D&I plays an important role able to further improve performance, cooperation, decision-making, and create an environment where all team members feel valued and supported. Building an inclusive culture should be based on local leadership, straight talk, feedback mechanisms, acknowledge and award successes and learn from failures. At the same time, the broader global D&I principles and targets should be considered with respect to succession planning, recruitment and talent management.