BECAUSE OF YOU

HER TEAM

Tamara called a meeting with her Team immediately upon reaching her office.  She has an annoying boss, but she was still an employee of the company. She needed to do her task well. She was not supposed to react based on her impression of the boss. She needed to set aside her displeasure all the time.

"Hi team, let us go to our conference area for a short briefing," 

Then she followed them to the conference area after getting some of her files.

When everyone was comfortable in their seats, they tackled the first topic.

"Okay, team, you must all know why our team was created." She said in a cold tone.

Everyone agreed. The new boss or the CEO himself demanded to have the MA department, which would be under his direct supervision.

"Team, we need to adjust to the new leadership and his direction for the company. CEO's direction was the primary reason why we have our group. The MA team must provide all legal matters necessary to close all company mergers and purchase transactions that would lead to new business for the company."

 Tamara applied several firm pressure on her head, thinking how difficult their task would be, especially under the supervision of a demanding and infuriating boss. However, it was their job. Thus she needed to set her annoyance aside.

 "With that, I want you to cooperate and do your task diligently. We can't afford to make mistakes. as mistakes affect our performance severely." She told them honestly how she wanted them to perform, and all the lawyers were aware that the task given to them would not be easy to do. They were detached from the central legal team and reporting directly to the CEO. The lawyer's tenure was under the CEO's mercy. He could fire them anytime he pleased, which was stipulated in the employee contract. 

"How many projects are expected to be completed within the year?" Atty. Ben inquired.

"Twenty projects more or less," Tamara responded. 20 cases were high for MA projects, but that was the boss's target.

"That's estimated at four projects per month with seven months remaining. " Atty. Ben assessed then released a deep sigh afterward.

"Yes! But we don't know how each project will progress. There will be times that the paper works will cram at any single month. Let's manage our time well." Tamara uttered, and everyone agreed with her.

"Also, I will be accompanying the CEO for a week's trip for the Cebu projects.  That means I need to delegate the projects I have now with you for monitoring. But of course, I need an update on those from time to time." She said helplessly. It was evident in her voice.

"Can you take care of it alone?" Atty. Sabrina asked doubtfully. Tamara would be the lone lawyer for the trip, if ever. The task could be overwhelming.

"I will handle whatever I can at the location, but anything beyond, I will e-mail here for preparation," she replied confidently.

"I guess there will be no problem as long as everyone will persevere. This is the only company that gets 20 MA's in a year, not to include the five we already finished before the CEO takeover" Atty. Chito said proudly.

Tamara was the head of the group of their five-lawyer Team. They also have assistants and paralegals.

When Sabrina, a female lawyer, realized that Tamara would accompany the CEO, she uttered excitedly...

"That means you will be with the boss for the entire week? Hay!" she giggled to the surprise of the team.

"You want to take Tam's place?" Atty. Ben asked, knowing the job's load and the stress of working under the imposing presence of the new CEO. 

"Sure, why not! But I guess it will be messy. Therefore, no thanks unless it's a date with the CEO. He's so gorgeous!" everyone laughed at Sabrina's comment.

Tamara couldn't help but shake her head. Everyone looked at her.

"Why, Tam?" Chito asked, "Aren't you attracted to him like everyone else in the company?" He was surprised that Tamara was unaffected by the CEO's charm.

She answered with a sarcastic smile, "No! I'm almost stripped of my job the first time I met him. Therefore, I must persevere to keep it."

"Really? He doesn't like you?" asked Atty. Chito. He saw Tamara in negotiation, and she got his respect and admiration immediately.

"Probably, he just wants a man for the position." was Tamara's simple response.

"Oh! But he doesn't know how thorough you can be." Said Atty. Ben, he too admired their lady MA head.

"That remains to be seen by him. That means I must do my best. If it's not good enough, then I will probably find myself demoted or eliminated." Tamara knew she just had to perform and not worry about it too much.

"The boss is on his way to the greatest surprise of his life." Atty. Allan said. And he laughed.

Everyone joined him. They all believe in Tamara. She was one of the best they've seen in their field.

"Let's not worry about it for now. I guess the boss will have a heart not to throw me on the streets yet. But please do everything to complete the documents of our current cases while I'm on this trip. I'm banking on you all." She was confident with her team's support, but they would all pass through at an eye of a needle. Therefore, she shouldn't allow any negligence to take place. They must work cohesively and effectively.

"Yeah! Don't worry, we got you covered." everyone said the same in support of her.

She dismissed them as soon as there were no concerns to discuss.

Tamara went back to her cubicle and go over the documents on her table. The MA legal task partly deals with contracts and finding loopholes on them. In their case, the Team usually need not appear in court litigations since their central legal Team handles it. However, their overwhelming task includes early pre-acquisition planning, contract drafting, negotiations, and finalizing contracts of successfully closed large or small transactions. 

It also demands extensive knowledge and experience in the due diligence process, building valuation models, reviewing representations and warranties, and assisting in completing asset sales. Not all lawyers would be willing to be swamped by those obligations; however, Tamara was an expert in that field. She was trained to dissect minuscule details of every transaction.

She could understand Alex's apprehension and preference for a man to handle an MA head task. It was really a tough job. However, Tamara believed in equal rights and equal capability of men and women in whatever field they were in, and she intends to prove that to her boss. 

"How dare you, Mr. Alexandre Brias? I will let you eat your words, Promise!" she silently muttered.