LACCA hosted its first virtual event last month, where panellists came together from the comfort of their homes and offices to discuss some of the major topics on the minds of corporate counsel right now.

Day 1

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The event kicked off with a panel on crisis management, as moderator John Aguilar Quesada, partner at Aguilar Castillo Love, explored the various damage control methods in-house teams can be taking to mitigate the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on their business. Aguilar was joined by Sandra Monroy, legal director for the Andean region at Uber, and Daniel Weinstein, legal manager at BHP Minerals Americas, as they identified where legal input is needed most by companies during a crisis.

We then heard about the strategies legal teams can use to overcome the labour disputes that have arisen during the pandemic. Carolina Camacho, partner at Posse Herrera Ruiz, moderated the panel which included Renzo Parodi, general counsel and head of Latin America for Tata Consultancy Services and Giannina Acosta Pizarro, director of legal and health and safety at The Adecco Group. The panel also discussed labour practices in the virtual era and the role legal departments play in helping employees adapt to the new reality.

Day 2

https://latinlawyer.com/article/1235451/watch-the-lacca-virtual-series-here

The second day began with a panel on cost-cutting methods in-house counsel can deploy at their own companies. Business leaders continue to want legal teams to make sure company-wide economising initiatives cause the least legal disruption, so corporate counsel have a big responsibility to reign in expenditure without compromising on quality service. Adriana Pallis, partner at Machado Meyer Advogados acted as moderator and was joined by panellists Bruna Cassiano, head of legal for Latin America and the Caribbean at Concentrix, and Gustavo Sáchica, head of legal and general secretary for Allianz Colombia.

The penultimate panel focused on the tried-and-tested technologies legal departments are using, now that the pandemic has accelerated the legal tech revolution which was starting to take off over the last five years. The need for technology to adapt and survive in today's world has also meant lawyers have needed to evolve to stay relevant. Moderator Leonor Echeverria, partner at Fragomen, explored these themes with panellists Sebastian Palacios, commercial and digital transformation attorney for Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador at Microsoft and Daniel Sibille, regional senior compliance director and deputy compliance officer at Oracle.

The final panel of the series identified useful ways corporate counsel can reduce the risk surrounding their business' investments and operations in the region, especially against a backdrop of regulatory uncertainty. These "de-risking" strategies involve public policy and investment protections, among other things. Moderator Sergio Urias, partner at Covington, led the discussion with Andrew Biberstein, legal counsel at Shell Oil Company, Jorge Martinez, legal counsel, compliance officer and corporate secretary at Giesecke+Devrient, and Felipe Olivares, legal director for South America at Acciona.

If your law firm is interested in sponsoring future LACCA events, please get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.