Well, here we are closing out another year. This year saw plenty of uncertainty and changes in technology, data protection, and the environment, to name a few. No doubt the challenges and opportunities presented in 2018 will follow us into 2019 — with a few new ones emerging.
Borrowing from Heraclitus: There is nothing permanent except change. This is especially so in our profession, with global regulations continually evolving and technological innovations that make our jobs easier and harder at the same time. If you are apprehensive about what’s next, you are not alone. According to the ACC Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) 2018 Survey, 74 percent of CLOs shared that regulatory or governmental changes keep them up at night, followed by data breaches (70 percent) and information privacy (68 percent).
This is not surprising. We are the gatekeepers of our organizations, protecting our companies and making sure we conduct our businesses responsibly. Perhaps more importantly, we are partners to the business, providing strategic counsel as our companies look to grow and advance their missions and positions in the global marketplace. While we understand that with uncertainty and change come risk, we also know that how we manage risk is part of doing business and a primary function of our role. ACC wants to help you excel in this role, starting with this risk assessment and management-focused issue of the Docket.
This issue’s cover story discusses what the authors refer to as the new “must have” — the chief privacy officer. As companies collect more consumer data, and as global privacy policies continue to grow in complexity as well as scope, there’s a strong case for companies to add this role to their legal department. Other relevant trends and topics covered in this issue include the potential liabilities that come with the growing use of company social media and online platforms; the importance of establishing a privilege protection plan in advance of a data breach; and how using technology during micro-investigations can help counsel be proactive in the management and assessment of risks.
Along with this issue of the Docket, ACC has many resources, as well as in-person educational events, to assist you in navigating the risks that are a part of our every day. I encourage you to explore ACC.com, where you’ll find tools like the Maturity Model, which allows you to measure and benchmark your company’s “maturity” in areas like compliance, information governance, change management, and more, as well as information on upcoming events. For example, the 2019 ACC Asia-Pacific Annual Meeting, being held this April in Hong Kong, promises the opportunity to connect and learn from our global peers, while ACC Xchange — a combination of ACC’s mid-year and legal operations meetings — will take on topics like next-generation contracting using AI-driven technology.
Our roles within our companies offer us a unique view of the business, as well as the outside and internal forces that influence it. As in-house counsel, we like challenges and thrive on finding solutions that push our organizations forward. The risks associated with doing so will always be present. Our good fortune is being part of a global network of peers, whom we can reach out to for ideas and strategies to manage those risks. Not to mention that ACC resources are at our fingertips to help us manage any issue that comes our way in the new year.
