Meet Maria Birath, Senior Legal Counsel at Capgemini, an international business lawyer with 14 years of experience in Information Technology and Commercial law. In this interview Maria shares insights into the rewarding aspects of multinational companies, how technology can enhance the legal function and the importance of self-care.

Interviewed by Anastasiia Hresko

Let’s start by talking about your position. You are currently a Senior Legal Counsel at Capgemini. Can you share some of the challenges and rewards of this position?

For me, the biggest reward of being a Senior Legal Counsel at Capgemini is the ability to influence and advise our Senior Management and help the company win sustainable business. I can see my work having a direct positive impact on the core business and strategic long-term decision making so I get to be involved in everything that makes Capgemini a great company.

It does come with some challenges. The environment is stressful with a very fast pace and the workload is usually high with multiple projects running simultaneously.

I get to be involved in everything that makes Capgemini a great company.

You have often chosen an international environment to work in. What aspect of working in multinational companies attracts you the most?

I would have to say: the people. When people from ten to twenty different countries and cultures work together, great things happen. There are obviously challenges with cultural aspects but you have so much fun together, learn a lot from one another and get different angles on various topics, so it is a great experience.

But I’d also say: the clients. One of the benefits of working in a multinational company is that you get to work with some of the world’s largest companies. The professionalism that you get from both sides is truly impressive.

You are working in the IT sector. Could you share some examples of how you deploy technology to improve the legal function?  What are your thoughts on the future of Legal Tech, and how do you see it changing the legal profession in the years to come?

That’s something I feel very strongly about! Technology can improve our work so much.

Lawyers are generally very expensive “resources”. Despite being highly qualified, we still spend so much time on routine tasks with low value to the company. By using Legal Tech and AI, however, we can remove the low value work and free up time for our competencies to really shine through. This leads to an improved business game as well as more insightful and strategic advice. For the lawyers it also means workload that is more manageable, more challenging and a lot more fun. Thus, it’s basically a win-win for everyone.

In our legal department we are already seeing how automation is simplifying repetitive tasks and digitalisation is helping us to leverage data and discover inefficiencies in our internal processes. There is so much more room for growth in this area; Legal Tech has been on top of everyone’s mind recently but I believe that it will explode in the coming years.

Legal Tech can remove low value work and free up time for our competencies to really shine through.

 

Let’s talk about leadership. You are currently participating in the 8th edition of WIL’s Women Talent Pool Programme. What were your biggest takeaways from it and how did it help you develop as a leader?

The programme is amazing and I am so happy to be a part of it! The network is definitely something I’ll take with me. Knowing that I can reach out to women in similar situations as myself all over Europe and in different sectors is priceless.

I had great mentoring sessions about my career development and what I need to get where I want to be. And I think as a leader I am taking with me the importance of leading with my heart, with compassion and of course, clear communication. I also gained interesting perspectives about leadership in the context of culture: in the Nordics we have a democratic style of leadership but sometimes more directness is needed – a valuable learning opportunity for me!

As a leader I am taking with me the importance of leading with my heart, with compassion and of course, clear communication.

As a woman in leadership in the legal sector and a mother of two children, how do you maintain a work-life balance?

Well, that is difficult, and I have struggled a lot with it, especially when I was younger. But I have learned how important it is to remember that no one will thank you if you do not take care of yourself and burn out: neither your family, nor the company. So the best thing to do for everyone is to take care of yourself and set boundaries.

People are generally very understanding when you say “no” – it is just your fear of saying “no” that hinders you from experiencing that understanding. I try to treat my time as something valuable, say “no” to meetings where my participation is not actually necessary and to block out my calendar ensuring that I have uninterrupted time to get the work done.

People are generally very understanding when you say “no” – it is just your fear of saying “no” that hinders you from experiencing that understanding.

In your role as Senior Legal Counsel you are often responsible for advising clients and internal stakeholders. However, is there any advice you have received from someone else in your career that you would like to share, and what advice would you give to young women starting out in the legal sector?

I have been fortunate to have extremely talented and supportive female leaders close to me throughout my entire career. They’ve been my role models showing that women can succeed. One advice I took with me is not to rush everything – to take your time.

Working life is long and is getting longer with the increasing retirement age - you don’t need to do everything right away. You don’t want to get stuck of course, but it’s important to take time to savour the success and not immediately chase new accomplishments.  For women starting their career it is so easy to put a lot of pressure on themselves: you want to prove that you are good, that you belong…

My advice would be to remember that you can only do a good job if you feel good. You cannot expect to give your clients the best advice if you do not sleep or eat or if you spend all your time just working.

It is like they say on an airplane flight: you must put your oxygen mask on before you can help others. You really need to prioritise yourself and your work-life balance.

It is so easy to put pressure on yourself in your early career: you want to prove that you are good, that you belong… But you can only do a good job if you feel good.

Video edited by Claudia Heard