Mathilde Dauxerre’s appetite for exploration has taken her places: a Master’s in Business Law in France, a postgraduate year in Ireland, followed by working in various legal sectors. Now, she’s two years into a new challenge as Legal Counsel in surety at Allianz Trade. Her everyday tasks include facilitating negotiations, writing contracts and navigating the changing needs of clients, all while ensuring Allianz Trade’s interests are protected – and the law respected!
What sparked your journey to join Allianz Trade?
After earning my Master's in Business Law, I was offered an internship with Allianz Trade in Paris but deferred to spend the year working in Ireland. When I returned to Paris in 2012, I found there was still a position for me there as a legal counsel on the bankruptcy team. I worked in this role for the next two years on a temporary contract before shifting to other areas of law.
Later, a former colleague from Allianz Trade reached out and hired me back on the bankruptcy team. When he transferred to the surety team a few years later in 2022, he invited me to join. I had loved studying surety law as well as building law, which would also be involved in the job. This therefore seemed like an exciting opportunity to put the theories I’d learned into practice! Plus, I knew my colleague and I would work well together as the only legal counsels within the team. The diversity of the department's areas of intervention also motivated me to join.
What are your responsibilities in your current role?
As a legal counsel in surety, my responsibilities are diverse and ever-changing throughout the whole surety process: I handle contract negotiations and the issuance of bonds, as well as amicable or judicial claims, which often involve finding solutions to unexpected situations. These tasks require balancing sometimes conflicting needs of clients and beneficiaries – often leading to a ‘triple threat’ situation.
Working in our surety department means coming up with solutions that speak to colleagues with a diverse range of challenges, including our salespeople and risk analysts. Again, it’s like a tightrope walk to try and meet everyone’s needs, within the constraints of inflexible legal concepts. My spirit of conciliation helps me a lot in achieving this. I’ve also found it helpful to share knowledge with my teammates on the parameters we’re working within, enabling everyone to be aware of relevant legal aspects throughout their casual business.
What challenges have you encountered and overcome in your role?
It’s been a challenge to master standing my ground in a highly demanding environment. We receive many complex requests for amounts that can reach several million euros, which was sometimes overwhelming at first. As my experience has grown and thanks to the support of my team, I am now very confident in this role.
That goes hand in hand with being prepared to explain and advocate for my opinion to colleagues and clients alike. Because my role places me at the center of so many business processes, confidence but above all the capacity for accurate legal reasoning are decisive assets.
What accomplishments are you most proud of in your career?
Last year, we created a toolbox for salespeople to simplify the process of establishing contracts. This helped everyone reach the same level of knowledge, giving them something concrete to explain to clients according to their needs and legal structures.
As surety is a new department within the company, it feels meaningful to build on its foundation by establishing clear guidelines and making sure everyone is comfortable with them.
Additionally, I have been taking part in Allianz Trade’s WorkWell program as a referent. This initiative aims to improve work-life balance and overall job satisfaction. It's really reassuring to know that we belong to a company that strives to enhance the daily lives of its employees.
Ultimately, I’m thankful to work alongside an incredibly supportive management team that truly encourages our feedback and recognizes the dedication we regularly bring to our work. They help to cultivate a very positive environment in which no one is left behind, which strengthens the great partnership that already exists between my colleagues and me.
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