General Counsel in the 21st Century (eBook)

Challenges and Opportunities, Second Edition

Christoph H Vaagt (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB
2022 | 2. Auflage
187 Seiten
Globe Law and Business (Verlag)
978-1-78742-864-5 (ISBN)

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General Counsel in the 21st Century -
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Chapters are written by an international group of well-known general counsel, corporate legal leaders, and other experts, and cover important topics for general counsel today, including legal operations, how adaptive legal functions are embracing technology, managing change, and doing more with less.
The role of general counsel and in-house lawyers is changing continually. Legal is now considered a vital component of leadership in most enterprises, and it is increasingly common for the GC to be called on for strategic input prior to important business decisions. Added to this is the convergence of social and political trends driving new demand for legal advice and service delivery; an increasing focus on productivity and efficiency; pressure to demonstrate the value of legal to the business in order to gain budget support; and the need to adapt and advance digitally. The competencies required of the general counsel and their increasingly multi-disciplinary team are also growing with responsibilities expanding to encompass reputational risk, government relations, data privacy, ESG and interacting with diverse stakeholders including regulators.

Edited by E Leigh Dance and Christoph H Vaagt, both with distinguished careers advising legal departments and teams for more than two decades, the second edition of General Counsel in the 21st Century offers general counsel and all in-house legal professionals a variety of expert perspectives on the evolution of the role of the GC and the corporate legal department. Chapters are written by an international group of well-known general counsel, corporate legal leaders, and other experts, and cover important topics for general counsel today, including:

The evolution of the general counsel’s role;
Legal operations as a competitive advantage;
How adaptive legal functions are embracing technology;
Managing change in a legal department; and
Doing more with less.
This title provides guidance on how legal departments can best support the businesses they serve, identify and address areas where change is necessary, and anticipate developments on the horizon. Readers - whether in-house counsel or private practitioners - will gather best practices and learn new and perhaps surprising lessons to help them succeed in their jobs as leaders at the intersection of law and business.

Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

About the authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Part 1: Strategy and structure
Chapter 1: A slow motion riot – the evolving role of the general counsel and the legal department
By Susan Hackett, CEO, Legal Executive Leadership, LLC
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What makes in-house practice special? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
In the beginning… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
How the demographics of corporate legal practice shape this conversation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Striking the right balance between “make” versus “buy” . . . . . . . . . 6
Why aren’t GCs driving changes faster and farther than they are? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
So how does the distinguishing value in-house team lead toward a better future in law? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The changing marketplace of legal service providers . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The challenges posed by old systems colliding with new markets, processes, and practices, and GCs who want to promote change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The rising opportunity of the in-house team and general counsel to drive change in the marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Going forward – how will GCs and in-house teams lead? . . . . . . . . 14
Final thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 2: The general counsel, corporate governance, and stakeholder capitalism
By Bruno Cova, partner, Delfino Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and Leanne Geale, executive vice president and general counsel, corporate governance and compliance, Nestlé S.A.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Factors driving the role of general counsel in corporate governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Ensuring general counsel’s effective corporate governance role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Mad Hatter – coping with unique and multiple roles . . . . . . . 28
Corporate governance issues for general counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Corporate governance involves personal risks and opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 3: The general counsel’s role in the digital transformation of legal
By William L. Deckelman, Jr, executive vice president and general counsel, DXC Technology Company, and Daniel Reed, CEO, UnitedLex
Why should the general counsel and legal team embrace digital transformation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What is a “digital” legal department? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Why do purpose and people come first in digital transformation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
How does one address the massive topics of technology and data? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
What has worked in measuring value and demonstrating how we deliver it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Key elements of digital transformation for the general counsel to remember . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 4: Legal operations as a competitive advantage
By Hans Albers, director, legal management consulting, Deloitte Legal, and Áine Lyons, SVP and deputy general counsel, VMware
Taming the final frontier of legal department modernization – legal operations hold the key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Starting with technology is not the answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Where to start? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
The value of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Strategy trumps all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Defining the legal department operating strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Roles and responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
VMware: A legal operations case study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The four faces of the legal operations executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Part 2: Leadership skills for the GC

Chapter 5: Leadership behaviors that distinguish great general counsel
By Kenneth J. Fredeen, general counsel emeritus, Deloitte (Canada)
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Self-reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Successfully building and nurturing relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Perfection is impossible but the journey is worth it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Key behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Chapter 6: Best supporting act – how adaptive legal functions are embracing technology
By Isabel Parker, executive director, The Digital Legal Exchange
Becoming a digital, adaptive organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The legal/business disconnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Legal departments – “eager but not ready” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
The three barriers to progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Meeting the challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Examples of best practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Final thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Chapter 7: Considerations on doing more with less – leading the lean legal department
By Maja Fabula, vice president and deputy general counsel, Tenneco Inc.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Doing more with less – the importance of prioritization . . . . . . . . . 106
Your legal team’s wellbeing is a critical priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Maximizing resources in a lean environment – removing workfrom the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Taking your first step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 8: Crisis prevention and management – how must legal and communications act together?
By Christian Lawrence, partner, Brunswick Group
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Reputation and trust as assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The crisis as a threat – and an opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Interconnection of the tasks of the legal department and the communications department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Risk-minimizing factors in the cooperation between the legal and communications departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Cooperation between the legal and communications departments in the event of a crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
What is the most effective way to protect one’s reputation? . . . 131

Chapter 9: Workforce management of the future – virtual teams, hybrid working, and the future workforce
By Robert Loef, group general counsel, Best Secret Group AG, and Anne Meckbach, chief compliance officer, ProSiebenSat.1 Group
COVID-19 as change agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
“It’s not personal, it’s strictly business” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
(Preliminary) tenets for future workforce management . . . . . . . . . 134
Teams can work together productively and cohesively without being in the office, day-in, day-out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Hybrid work poses specific challe nges to the legal department, which can be overcome by the right policies and technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
(Predominantly) remote work has a corrosive effect on loyalty and sense of belonging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Leadership needs to empower, not control, people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Business unit embedded teams are more important than ever to avoid being siloed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Different jobs/tasks need different workplace models . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Part 3: Adding value and managing change

Chapter 10: ESG – how the GC and legal function contribute to sustainability initiatives
By E. Leigh Dance, founder and executive director, Global Counsel Leaders
Part 1: Why ESG requires your attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Part 2: Key elements of ESG for general counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Part 3: The general counsel’s evolving role in ESG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Part 4: Setting priorities and structure for ESG in legal . . . . . . . . . . . 157
What next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Chapter 11: Quantifying value creation in legal departments – showing the income side of legal work
By Christoph H. Vaagt, founder and managing partner, Law Firm Change Consultants
Old versus new world of legal departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
The new normal for legal departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Direct income-generating activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Indirect value contributions of the legal department – measure in order to prove value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Necessary cultural change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Chapter 12: Managing change in a legal department – introduction of a contract management system
By Wolf-Peter Gross, management consultant, Law Firm Change Consultants
Change in general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Change in legal departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Case study: Introduction of a case management system . . . . . . . 176
The change process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

About Globe Law and Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Erscheint lt. Verlag 22.12.2022
Mitarbeit Berater: E Leigh Dance
Verlagsort London
Sprache englisch
Themenwelt Recht / Steuern Allgemeines / Lexika
Recht / Steuern EU / Internationales Recht
Recht / Steuern Privatrecht / Bürgerliches Recht Berufs-/Gebührenrecht
Schlagworte general counsel, in-house, legal department, legal teams
ISBN-10 1-78742-864-8 / 1787428648
ISBN-13 978-1-78742-864-5 / 9781787428645
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