Team size: Approximately 60

Can you tell us a bit about your legal department and how it supports the business?

At our company, the legal department has two functions. Firstly, it provides legal services, focusing on business and operational risks and opportunities, supporting business growth by providing multiple legal services: commercial, corporate, mergers and acquisitions and trade law among others. Secondly, it holds a governance function, focusing on strategic risk avoidance, designing standards for the group’s compliance management systems covering many of the usual ESG topics.

At our legal department, we are a passionate team of experts who are engaged, competent and confident. Our purpose is to deliver legal excellence, with customer centricity and a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. We hope to achieve all that, while protecting sustainable business growth and reputation, focusing on our respect agenda, respecting all applicable laws and all the requirements of our stakeholders and the communities in which we serve. In all, we focus on adopting the many components of our DNA, such as a can-do attitude, a right first-time execution, passionate delivery, and courage leadership attributes.

To guarantee our department performs according to expectations, for over 10 years, we have measured the departments performance through an annual employee opinion survey, addressing work environment, our governance role and perception on customer satisfaction. Additionally, we use a monthly net promoter score on customer centricity and service delivery. Lastly, our financial performance is measured against well-established external standards.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house legal world? 

Project management, tech acuity and programmers, skilled negotiators, legal experience and expertise, leadership skills, leaders in sustainability, influence, and be in tip top physical and mental health.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use?

The main changes we would focus on would concerning increased efficiency, customer centricity, innovation, and continuous improvement. Additionally, alternative pricing strategies and reduced costs.