Eva Argilés Malonda
General Counsel
Applus+
Barcelona, Spain
7:00 am
My cell phone wakes me. A quick look at overnight emails and WhatsApp messages, including those from my family in Mexico. I check the Outlook calendar before showering, occasionally listening to news or “optimistic” music.
7:30 am
I should be ready if we want to make it to school. I wake up my 11-year-old daughter and my nine-year-old son, as lovingly as possible. Kissing them is one of the day’s best moments.
7:45 am
My first “Come on!” of the day. Finally, they join me for breakfast. I prepare fresh orange juice and school sandwiches, while trying not to repeat any meals and adhering to our traditional Mediterranean diet. We plan the afternoon’s logistics as I remind them about football, basketball, and jazz.
8:30 am
I walk the kids to school, listening to their funny stories, and remember how lucky we are to live so close. On our way, I meet other parents and I really appreciate living in a neighborhood on the upper side of Barcelona. I notice that the number of flags over the windows has decreased since October. What an intense month it was.
8:45 am
My 15-minute drive to work takes me outside Barcelona. With the radio tuned to news or music, depending on the day and mood. I answer a call from my mum, who lives in my hometown of Valencia, as she prepares for her aqua-gym class.
9:00 am
Say good morning to the team. I read and answer emails, accept or reject invitations to professional events, read legal news and ACC materials, and revisit the agenda for the day.
10:00 am
Skype call with the Kuala Lumpar-based in-house team covering Asia and Middle East on the strategy for a litigation case.
10:30 am
Call with the board chairman about corporate governance ideas. The board secretary follows up on the next board session and, since the company went public, advises on governance, preparation, and upload of corporate documents for the board portal (a big part of my job after the listing). The CFO and internal audit liaise on Audit Committee topics, then compliance and HSQE colleagues discuss and coordinate CSR Committee materials. After the call, I update the CEO.
11:30 am
Review the GDPR project status with a colleague. We discuss the interpretation of a clause in our group financing agreement and review several ongoing M&A projects and contracts. We rearrange our own timelines — sometimes to our frustration — for the new group policies that are being drafted.
12:30 pm
Quick Skype call with the legal head of the Energy & Industry business division, with whom functional reporting is almost never a problem. Quick debrief of urgent material issues and the overall status of the workload. We also swap film recommendations, like the fantastic Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
1:15 pm
Meeting with investor relations and marketing on corporate website updates. More email.
2:00 pm
Lunchtime with team members at the office or outside with some other in-house colleague.
3:00 pm
I review and approve contracts and appointments — for one of our more than 200 subsidiaries — through the GRC software. I read ACC materials and work with the two other Spanish country reps in Madrid to organize upcoming events.
4:00 pm
Skype call with external counsel in Houston about a litigation case and other compliance matters. Later, local external counsel submits invoices and we discuss a recent court decision that is now a trending topic.
4:45 pm
I finalize a presentation for the upcoming Executive Committee with an update on projects and regulatory changes. Call from the HR head to align ongoing topics.
7:15 pm
On my way home, I call the in-house lawyer at a recently acquired company in Costa Rica to discuss the next stages of ongoing litigation. We clarify some doubts on anticorruption policies and she updates me on how the local teams are adapting to the group.
8:00 pm
My daughter tells me about her next exam before family dinner, a very nice novelty as the children are more mature and can wait for us to be home.
9:30 pm
After the day’s second “Come on!” the kids are finally in bed. The children ask for another of my invented stories, but, wanting to be more inspired, I manage to postpone it until the weekend.
10:00 pm
If he is not on a business trip, my husband and I relax by listening to the news, sharing details of the day, and planning the weeks ahead, including a ski weekend, and many more logistics.
11:00 pm
I have a look at LinkedIn and emails, then chat or Skype with family and start thinking of getting to bed.
12:00 am
Dreaming, I hope.
