What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

I played a key role in the negotiation of setting up more than ten joint-ventures in the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East as well as the opening of new boutiques on a global scale. Drafting many agreements relating to the construction of two new manufacturing factories including one hotel and one museum, I was also involved in the negotiation of the partnership agreements with brand ambassadors while drafting sponsoring agreements. In terms of litigation, our legal team had to file legal briefs against companies to defend our trademarks and designs against infringers in the US, Europe, and Asia.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers strengthen their position as internal business partners in their organisation?

Closely aligned with the relevant business or operational priorities, in-house lawyers can strengthen their position as internal business and legal advisor in their organisation. To provide the best possible structuring or strategy for their company, in-house legal teams must be around the negotiation table at the earliest possible stage. They must train themselves to understand their function in the organisation whilst working on the ways to improve their company in terms of ethics, value, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Flexible business structures will help to improve in-house legal team’s function as a key decision maker of their company’s business, while allowing chief legal office to directly report to the CEO, attending board meetings, regularly having meetings with other departments to discuss operational matters.

As we all know from the famous quote ‘it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change,’ in-house lawyers are required to be agile during difficult times. I want to build the most agile team which can quickly and effectively support business initiatives and opportunities. To do so, in-house counsel need to be business oriented by not limiting their advice to legal questions but sharing their views on business matters as deal makers.

Have any new laws, regulations or judicial decisions greatly impacted your company’s business or your legal practice?

The regulatory landscape is always expending, and it is difficult to remain up to date as Audemars Piguet is operating across forty different jurisdictions. Data privacy and data localisation have emerged as critical issues for in-house lawyers to grapple with in the coming years. We have deployed new technologies to enhance our own internal workflow, which allowed our team to free up and deal with more sophisticated and valuable elements of legal function.