An interview with Mihai G Popa, Corporate Legal Director/Board of Directors Member at E.ON in Romania.
How would you describe the state of the GC Community in your region?
The state of GC Community in our region could be described as a very good one since it has developed substantially in the years after our participation in the Legal 500 CEE conference from 2019 and due to a very strong cooperation which was initiated between the members of our GC Romania group. During the last couple of years, we have cooperated a lot and we initiated a specific form of putting our efforts as a community together through a new association named GC Forum. One of our goals is to tackle the complex issues that General Counsel are increasingly engaged in, finding “integrated solutions” to critical matters, moving beyond legal advice activity, applying new processes, technologies, and skills to provide service, alongside a different type of leadership presented from our perspective.
How has it changed since you first moved in-house?
Taking into account that an important period has passed since my first move as in-house counsel – almost about 20 years – I would consider that the main changes have revolved around events such as the first important investments into business areas from Romania, the moment of the integration for Romania within the European Union, the difficult years of financial crisis and the challenges from the pandemic period. The main change I experienced within the GC Community is in connection to the way legal departments and the legal and compliance practice evolved from acting only in matters related to the legal sphere to a more mature, complex mechanism that these departments now represent.
Why is expanding your network important to you?
Expanding connections in the legal field represents an advantage for our GC profession, firstly at the international level and equally for the development of the legal function within our countries.
What kinds of connections or discussions would be most valuable to you?
Interactions based on experiences in many legal and compliance domains in order to support us for further projects and professional activities represent one of the most valuable aspects. Likewise, the connections at the international level are always able to offer new approaches for the legal industry and, similarly, for business projects in which we are involved within the activities of our departments.
What do you want to achieve by collaborating with other GCs and senior in-house lawyers?
The main achievements within these high-level legal industry interactions could be represented by a professional network which could be established (covering new approaches in the solutions applied to particular legal issues, lessons learned, specific case law, conferences on similar industry subjects, etc.) together with further cooperation relating to the challenges or typical solutions to be implemented/adjusted at the level of our local departments.
Are there specific topics, challenges, or experiences you’d like to share or learn more about?
We are interested in further exploring the impact of new technological developments within the legal and compliance industry. Furthermore, we consider that not only our profession would need to be explored from this perspective, but also the new technology challenges which impact the business and the specific activities of the companies where we offer legal and compliance consultancy because, implicitly, these challenges are transposed also in the manner how consulting activities will be approached in the near future.
