Dive Brief:
- Nearly 80% of general counsel surveyed indicated they are facing increased risk and demand, according to a report from FTI Technology and Relativity.
- All 30 of the surveyed legal department leaders said they are experiencing rising workloads across business strategy, crisis and breach incident response, compliance monitoring, data privacy, ESG initiatives and risk management.
- When respondents were asked to list their top five risks, 33% listed data protection first, 23% listed regulatory compliance first and 20% listed data privacy first.
Dive Insight:
The 79% of legal leaders reporting rises in risk and demand was up from 60% a year ago, according to the FTI Technology and Relativity General Counsel Report 2023.
“Many chief legal officers are experiencing the most turbulent period of their entire careers,” said Sophie Ross, global CEO of FTI Technology, in a press release.
Overall, six in ten legal chiefs reported they are seeing an increase in new regulations that require policy refreshes and additional headcount.
That figure aligns with a recent report from HBR Consulting finding that 70% of law departments anticipate an increase in demand for regulatory services, which is up from 56% last year.
Meanwhile, nearly half of the respondents in the FTI/Relativity survey said they are experiencing more contract management demands.
“While it’s not surprising that legal departments are feeling increased pressure given the current climate, what stands out in this year’s General Counsel Report is just how universal their challenges have become,” Ross of FTI Technology said. “While even a year ago legal departments would have reported increased demand over a varied and diverse array of risk areas, today we’re seeing unanimity across many categories. At the same time, new, unprecedented issues are emerging.”
One of those emerging areas is ESG, which refers to environmental, social, and governance issues.
In this year’s report, 57% of respondents included ESG issues among their top five risks. Some surveyed general counsel said they are responsible for ensuring ESG coverage, consistency and compliance across the entire organization.
“Concern about regulatory risk and ESG issues may be the biggest takeaway from our fourth annual edition of the General Counsel Report,” said David Horrigan, discovery counsel and legal education director at Relativity, in a prepared statement.
The underpinnings of the report came from interviews that legal industry consultant Ari Kaplan of Ari Kaplan Advisors conducted with 30 general counsel or chief legal officers in late August and early September of this year.
Forty percent of those surveyed work in organizations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, and 60% work for companies with more than 1,000 employees.
The recently released findings covered part 1 of the FTI Technology/Relativity report. Parts 2 and 3 of the report will be released in early 2023.
