As general counsels evolve from having exclusively legal roles to far larger remits within their companies, they are moving closer to the profit and loss core of the business. 

They also have far more responsibility to be mindful of finances, with many GCs seeking to transform their departments into revenue enhancers. While legal may never become profitable, GCs from companies of all sizes are seeking innovative ways to boost savings, do more for less money and unlock value.

Legal departments have a variety of strategies to explore — from unclaimed assets to contract audits to asset sales — according to a legal panel, “How to Become the CFO’s Favorite,” at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s meeting this week in Nashville.

Another area where a GC can unlock a source of cash lies within a company’s contracts: Are vendors, business partners and suppliers meeting their contractual obligations in a timely manner? And is anyone checking?

“The place I have found where we have actually generated revenue is in contract audits,” said Dan Strunk, GC and secretary at Telamon Corp., an Indiana-based telecommunications and manufacturing company. “It’s about making sure your business knows what its contracts rights and obligations are. Leverage the rights that you and the business have fought for.”

Another place to seek savings is in states where your company may do business or pay taxes, said Krystal Saab, the head of legal at Omni Retail Enterprises, the parent of several retail brands, including Pier 1 and Dressbarn.

Unclaimed property and other assets that states track are often not just insurance payments, overpaid taxes or other assets that individuals are entitled to — these also apply to businesses, she noted. One of her previous employers located $101,000 by searching unclaimed property registries in states where it conducted business, Saab said in the panel discussion.

One big way to avoid financial loss? Avoiding litigation, of course.

But to do that, the GC or chief legal officer must be involved in high-level management meetings to identify legal risks and opportunities and better understand the opportunities to resolve disputes, Strunk said.

“For me, the way I got in was literally to say I’ll be better at my job if I know what you important people are talking about. Let me sit in the corner and take notes,” he said. “The value really is seeing the strategic plan, and for me that has resulted in cost savings in part because it helps me to understand some of the legal issues that are going to land on my desk, what are the ones that are mission critical for the company to win.”

That access also helps to shape the legal department’s understanding of areas where the company may be willing to cede somewhat in negotiations, and others where it will not, he said.

Another critical question for GCs and their employers: When should you settle? Determining how and when to settle is a critical question that often affects enormous sums of money. 

“Your outside counsel typically can’t do as good a job assessing that as you can,” Strunk said of settlement considerations. Case assessments from your outside law firm are helpful only to a certain point, he said. 

Having better insights into the issues by being aligned with senior leadership and knowing which areas your company truly values in a legal dispute can save a business a large amount of money and win plaudits for the GC’s team, the panelists said. 

Another area where many companies have found “free” money is in government incentives, said Brian Eftink, a partner at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. If you’re creating new jobs — especially in areas the government has classified as economically distressed — the options can be lucrative even with as few as two jobs, he said.

“You don’t need to make some $100 million investment or add 1000 employees,” Eftink said. “If you’re in a distressed community you only have to create a couple of jobs.”

The larger your proposed investment, and the greater the number of proposed jobs, the more incentives your team is likely to be able to negotiate as they visit communities to pitch the project, he said.

GCs also should celebrate and transmit their teams’ success stories, whether it’s litigation averted, new workflow efficiencies or major savings from a contract or other matter, the panelists said.

“Publicize your successes,” Saab said. “So frequently we are labeled the ‘Department of No’ or a cost center,” with many in the organization forgetting that legal is an integral part of the overall business and should celebrate the department’s wins and losses just as colleagues in sales or operations do. 

“Make sure you don’t keep it quiet” when the legal team lands a win, she said.

“Publicizing your successes does not come at the expense of anyone else,” Strunk said. “It is not a zero-sum game.”

It also helps when legal leaders freely praise their finance or sales department colleagues for their work, Strunk said. “Folks want you in the meeting if they think you’re going to tell their boss how smart they are.”