The Legal Department is the strategic as well as operative partner of their internal clients, namely management, employees, and colleagues from NKG companies worldwide. The team consists of four members, with Jochen Michalak as Head of the Department. He and his colleagues offer practical “translation” of and advice on legal guidelines, agreements, and other legally relevant documents to the non-legal staff of NG and NKG on a selective basis and, in many cases, very broadly. “If desired, we can help to effectively shape projects and manage the risks inherent to them from the very beginning by bringing in the legal perspective ”, explains Legal Counsel Christina von Hobe. “Furthermore, we provide support in the interpretation of facts for which the interpretation of legal regulations and legal analytical skills are required, as well as experience in communicating with, or positioning towards, third parties”, adds Legal Associate Estefania Cajo.

As in other departments or companies, the scope of the Legal Department’s responsibilities has evolved over the past few decades: “25 years ago, our main tasks comprised legal advice on mergers and acquisitions projects, financing agreements as well as corporate housekeeping”, says Jochen Michalak. “In recent years, regulatory issues relevant for coffee trading and business in general have gained significantly in importance, such as, but not limited to, EUDR, supply chain laws, or data protection, where we work collaboratively with other departments or stakeholders on a frequent basis.”

The Legal Department’s responsibilities are broad and often involve highly complex issues. But the Legal team also has sides that may surprise some! For decades they have been quite successful in cultivating coffee trees and actually growing coffee in their office (situated on the 10^th floor, it is considered high grown), which has served as a project for the interns here in Hamburg who learned how to pick, process, and actually roast coffee. “Also, we are frequent table soccer players at the Coffee Plaza with the ‘Legal Eagles’ being a dreaded force in all matches”, Christina tells us. “And finally, we have been instrumental in establishing the NKG Christmas Carol Singers for several years now”, Jochen adds.

Of course, the team is available to all colleagues worldwide for questions and is happy to receive e-mails or calls!