We’re counselors, strategists, and managers for our companies.
While the shingle we hang out professionally denotes lawyer, for most of us, our day is shaped by the business we’re in, how they operate, and today’s wider influences. We’re counselors, strategists, and managers for our companies.
According to the ACC Law Department Management 2016 Report, 65 percent of respondents shared that executive teams in their organizations “almost always” seek the law department’s input on business decisions, while 75 percent said that members of the law department “almost always” meet with business leaders to discuss operational issues and risk areas. The survey also explored the increased strategic focus of today’s general counsel, which includes considering the opportunities and potential problems that new technology, like artificial intelligence (AI), can bring into our organizations.
More recent research in this area includes the 2018 Legal Department Benchmarking Report, an expansion of the law department management survey offering a deeper dive into the metrics. Every year, ACC surveys global leaders of law departments to better improve our understanding of the issues facing top legal officers, as well as to obtain in-depth knowledge and operations data to help in-house departments make informed business decisions. The benchmarking report is broken up into three supplements focused on small, mid-sized, and large companies — visit the Research & Insights page for more information.
In this issue of the ACC Docket, our cover story focuses on the California Consumer Privacy Act and its global impact on privacy regulations, along with coverage of General Data Protection Regulation and issues involving third-party data. We also look at the challenges that AI systems present when introduced into a law department and ways to overcome them in “AI for GCs: What You Need to Know as Your Company Adapts.” Other topics explored in this edition include a look at M&A advice from outside the courtroom and how the legal operations function can make your law department run more efficiently. Beyond these pages, ACC has much more available to you on this expansive topic, including educational programming.
Next month, our 2018 ACC Value Champions will present a session on “Legal Leadership within the Enterprise” at the ACC Asia-Pacific Annual Meeting on April 11 in Hong Kong. Other sessions during the meeting include “Lean and Mean: Metrics and Best Practices for Small and Medium-sized Legal Departments.” And during the ACC Xchange in Minneapolis, MN, which runs from April 28-30, our Value Champions will present on developing effective approaches to drive change within the law department. This conference is shaped with an in-house focus and highlights legal operations and business training. Learn more about the Asia-Pacific Annual Meeting at www.acc.com/education/apac19/ and ACC Xchange at www.acc.com/education/x19/index.cfm. Looking for more? We have great data specifically for in-house counsel including the newly released 2019 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey. Or learn more about ACC’s 19 practice networks, including the Law Department Management Network; the Value Challenge program; and ACC’s Legal Operations section.
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Drop me a line at chair@acc.com if there’s anything you’d like to share about this Docket issue or your ACC experience. ACC
