​In the current, competitive, economic climate, the most prominent trend for in house legal departments has been borne from cost pressures. With budgets being scrutinised and external costs more difficult to control, businesses are accepting more and more that the ability to internally deal with a broad range of tasks, via a cost-controlled in house legal function, is a good way to improve efficiency.

That notwithstanding, trends unrelated to costs are also emerging; cyber-security, regulatory issues, risk management and dispute resolution are all quickly rising on corporate agendas.

Private practices in-house

Traditionally seen as a cost-centre, in house legal teams are being subjected to increasing amounts of metrics and measurement. As a result, they are under more pressure to demonstrate the ways in which they add value to the business. Heads of Legal are keen to ensure management systems are used as effectively as possible by all staff, to ensure the department’s endeavours are demonstrable in any prospective budgetary meetings, as well as the more traditional outcomes of risk-management and efficiency creation.

Efficiencies are also being achieved in the make-up of the in house legal team; the use of non-lawyer professionals, such as assistants and paralegals is becoming the norm, and qualified staff are being pushed into consulting and supervisory roles over a variety of non-lawyer staff.

Cyber-security

Largely unrelated to competitive economics is the increasing amount of activity being applied to cyber threats. As a business risk, General Counsel see cyber security as the fastest growing threat , and there is undoubtedly a significant correlation between this activity and the rapidly expanding cyber security regulatory requirements to which businesses must comply.

Commonly, it is the legal department’s task, alongside the Chief Information Officers, to account to the board for cyber security issues, which requires active monitoring and management of those risks, whilst proactively working to keep them to a minimum. For example, in-house lawyers may need to review data breaches to discern whether they were brought about by error or sabotage, to assess the potential downsides for the business, and to come up with strategies to prevent future occurrences.

The usual suspects

Apart from cyber security, a general rise in regulation is creating ever more complex legal demands on large multi-national corporations, as well as global compliance risks.

Whilst dispute management and resolution has always been at the core of the in house legal department’s responsibilities, a new twist is the growing use of alternative dispute resolution measures in different jurisdictions. These are often mandatory, meaning settling disputes via pure negotiation skills may need to give way to introducing training for staff in order to adhere to best practice for these alternative methods.

Finally, the due diligence skills of in house legal teams are increasingly being called on to assist operational units on a day-to-day business level. Not only does this provide in house lawyers with the opportunity to apply their legal skills commercially, but also to shine in front of senior executives.

Comment

The above trends point to a growth and widening of the role of in house lawyers. While this always engenders new responsibilities, it will also provide great opportunities for those prepared to stretch their legal knowledge base, and improve their management and commercial skills.