Legal team size: Ten

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?

Managing legal matters during instability or crises demands a proactive, resilient approach that aligns with the organisation’s business strategy and values to ensure long-term resilience.

In-house counsel must prioritise the company’s best interests by safeguarding assets, mitigating risks, and maintaining compliance. A deep understanding of financials, including balance sheets and the bottom line, is essential for providing executives with relevant, actionable guidance. This enables legal advice that integrates with broader strategic objectives, ensuring decisions support financial stability and operational priorities.

Also, building resilience involves establishing crisis management frameworks, leveraging legal databases, and maintaining strong relationships with regulatory bodies. This ensures access to timely information and compliance with evolving requirements.

Furthermore, legal strategies should reflect organisational values, fostering transparency, ethical practices, and stakeholder trust. A clear understanding of business dynamics allows counsel to make decisions that safeguard reputation while advancing long-term goals.

Lastly, By balancing immediate legal needs with financial realities, in-house counsel helps executives navigate crises effectively. This dynamic, well-informed approach ensures that legal strategies not only protect the organisation but also position it for future growth, maintaining resilience and stakeholder confidence.

In your opinion, what are the main trends affecting your work now (these can be legal, political, economic or business-based)?

The main trends affecting legal work today are deeply influenced by geopolitical, economic, and regulatory shifts. A prominent factor is the evolution of geopolitical tensions, particularly the expansion of sanctions regimes targeting authoritarian regimes in Latin America. These sanctions may create in some cases complex compliance challenges, requiring companies to navigate restrictions on trade, financial transactions, and supply chains. Legal teams must stay updated on rapidly evolving regulations, ensuring adherence while mitigating risks to operations.

Global economic uncertainty, through inflation, fluctuating currency values, and regional economic instability, adds layers of complexity to contractual negotiations, cross-border transactions, and risk assessments. Businesses need precise legal guidance to adapt to volatile market conditions.

Additionally, governments worldwide are tightening regulations related to sustainability standards. Legal departments must integrate these requirements into corporate practices, ensuring sustainability efforts align with legal obligations and stakeholder expectations.

The rapid digitisation of industries and the rise of artificial intelligence introduce new opportunities for efficiency, but it may also present legal considerations around data privacy, cybersecurity, and intellectual property.

What strategic priorities are guiding your legal team into 2025?

Heading into 2025, our legal team’s strategic priorities focus on continue alignment of legal and compliance functions to create a unified framework for risk management and regulatory adherence. By aligning these areas, we aim to streamline processes, enhance communication, and ensure seamless handling of evolving legal and compliance challenges.

A key priority is leveraging AI-driven tools to optimise day-to-day tasks, such as document review, contract management, and legal research. These technologies improve efficiency, reduce manual workload, and provide actionable insights, allowing our team to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives