Team size: Over 15

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?   

SENER legal team provides services to the entire Group across a wide range of businesses and geographies in a changing environment. It is essential for us, even more in crisis or uncertainty periods, to be proactive and adaptable in our legal strategy. Being aware of the context and the company’s short- and long-term targets in collaboration with corporate and business teams, we design our legal strategy to align with that of the Group. This involves focusing on risk management, maintaining communication channels with all stakeholders and integrating legal considerations into the decision-making process. This approach has helped embed the Legal team as a trusted partner within the Group, ensuring the organisation’s resilience by anticipating and mitigating potential legal risks, managing actual issues and supporting overall business objectives. 

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?   

My background in Sener is related mainly to operations (live projects) and litigation, in addition to managing the legal team with the help of my senior colleagues. I have participated in some of the most challenging projects within the Group. Recently, we completed some complex deals in several locations within Africa and Europe related to large-scale energy projects, covering aspects from contractual negotiation to project execution. Also, there has been significant activity related to Space projects (its particular support in the last stages of Proba3 Project launched successfully a few weeks ago). Further and although we try to avoid litigation, we maintain some disputes, mainly arbitration before international courts (although there is also some activity before ordinary courts). The involvement and lead of the in-house legal team (along with external counsel) has been key to preserving the Group’s interests. Each of these cases required a thorough understanding of the legal issues and close collaboration to achieve successful outcomes, not only in terms of results but also in terms of preserving legal quality, cost efficiency, and cash flow during substantiation of the cases.  

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?   

Personally, this has become one of my current favorite challenges. Integrating technology into legal activities and processes is vital for efficiency, quality, and compliance. We joined corporate initiatives with our engineering colleagues and started education in AI, Copilot, etc. We designed several legal technical solutions to improve our negotiation and contract record processes using tech platforms and automation. Also, Power BI for better understanding and reporting of our activity. These technologies have streamlined our workflows and reduced the time and effort required to manage certain tasks. The use of technology has also enabled us to better track and analyse legal data, providing valuable insights that inform our legal and practical strategy. Additionally, with AI, there are new aspects to consider in terms of ethics and compliance. The legal team is a “founding member” of the Sener AI Lab devoted to developing AI applications in our company. 

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Spain over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?   

Over the next five years, businesses in Spain (in particular those of international nature) are likely to face several major legal challenges, including evolving data protection and AI regulations, increased scrutiny of corporate governance practices, and the need to navigate complex international trade laws in a scenario of conflicting geostrategic positions. To address these challenges, we are investing in ongoing legal education and training for our team and doing our best to proactively anticipate situations in our work processes and contracts. By taking these steps, we aim to ensure that our organisation is well-prepared to navigate the legal landscape and continue to thrive in this rapidly changing environment