Legalweek 2024 General Counsel Workshop Insights

During Legalweek 2024, LexisNexis^® CounselLink^® and ALM sponsored a first-of-its-kind General Counsel workshop for CLE credit. Joining CounselLink
Co-moderators Kris Satkunas, Director of Strategic Consulting, and Dan Ruderman, Director of Partnerships, were panelists:

• Kim Pryor, General Counsel, JBS^® USA Food Company
• Ian McDougall, General Counsel, LexisNexis
• Ellen Hudock, Vice President, Head of Global Ops, Chief of Staff, Legal and Compliance, GSK^®
• Andrea Corona, Director of Litigation Management, Zurich American^® Insurance Company
• Kevin Fumai, General Counsel, Oracle^® America Inc.
• Stephen Harrington, General Counsel, FLSmidth^®, Inc.

The three-hour session included two separate panel presentations, the first on how the General Counsel can be more strategic as a business partner in the corporation during times of “seemingly endless change and upheaval” and the second on strategies for controlling the legal department budget.

What was obvious to those in attendance but bore repeating was “how complex it is to be a general counsel and to need policies for the department, the company, and to be at the leading edge of so many things," said Ruderman. "The world is changing rapidly, and the risks surfacing are changing rapidly. If the modern GC doesn't keep up with risks, it increases risk to the business."

Unexpected news and global instability make daily headlines that contribute to a much more challenging and complex role for GCs. To steer a company in the right direction, a GC must be well-informed with the ability to learn rapidly and navigate an environment of expanding and emerging risks. With this continual education and peer-to-peer networking, it’s possible to build a resilient law department and take the helm as a strategic partner to the business.

General Counsel Workshop Topics

Topics covered in the workshop included AI, aligning the legal department with the business, and the risks a general counsel must protect its organization against.

Ian McDougall, General Counsel with LexisNexis, commented on generative AI, stating, “As in all technology, it should not be viewed as a technology looking for a problem. It should be the other way around. Our approach is not 'how can we deploy the technology,' but 'What are the problems that we can solve by using the appropriate technology?'"

A poll of attendees about their use of AI indicated that only 50% have a corporate AI policy in place, while 38% believe their employees are using AI in the workplace. Surprisingly, 90% of GCs have not communicated their expectations about AI to outside counsel.

Looking ahead, 47% of attendees at the Legalweek General Counsel workshop said AI’s impact on corporate legal staffing is still three years away, while 54% said AI will never impact a reduction in legal spend.

Building Relationships within the Organization

All panelists provided examples of how to be real partners to their organizations. Kim Pryor at JBS spoke of interviewing and gathering feedback from various parts of the organization and carefully aligning her mission statement with the business units’ goals.

Other panelists emphasized the importance of lawyers needing to speak the language of the business. Building relationships often means moving lawyers to be geographically located near to the teams they support.

Risk Management

The General Counsel in attendance identified areas of risk on their radar that had not been there six months ago. From global conflicts and politics to economic instability, ethical considerations, ESG, and copyrights plus AI, cybersecurity and regulatory, the role of the GC is fraught with risk and its mitigation.

Panelists spoke candidly about the benefits and risks of corporate ESG initiatives, and also how they manage new risks, sanctions and constantly changing regulations. Also discussed were ways the law department shows leadership within the company and to the larger community. This can be done through education programs, pro bono work and service contributions such as the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation.

Kevin Fumai, General Counsel with Oracle America, said, "The messy middle is where innovation happens … with risks to doing things and risks to not doing things. Legal is the main industry that is not innovating, and in many cases for good reason. In other cases, lack of innovation is to your or their detriment."

Managing Legal Department Budgets

As the demise of the billable hour continues to be discussed in GC circles, 64% of those polled during the workshop said that over the next three years, more matters will be priced with alternative fee arrangements than are today.

Kim Pryor, General Counsel, JBS® USA Food Company, directly pointed out the tensions between GCs and outside counsel, saying that the law firm model is to keep a matter going as long as possible to realize a rewarding outcome. This, she said is, “fundamentally juxtaposed to my job, which is to find the most efficient outcome as quickly as possible for the cheapest cost." Her preference is to work with trusted law firms with a long-term relationship who help her achieve her objectives.

Throughout the workshop, GCs agreed that every corporate legal department was charged to do more with less, not uncommon in this era of budget tightening and rising outside counsel rates. McDougall mentioned that he wanted his legal team to find things to no longer do by creating a “stop list.” That way, the focus can be on lawyers practicing law while others manage the business of law.

The panelists energetically addressed cost-cutting strategies and other ways to save money with fewer resources while protecting the company. Topics they addressed included alternative fee arrangements, matter budgets, vendor scorecards, and the use of alternative legal services providers.

Excerpted from ALM Legalweek GC Workshop story with Dan Ruderman and Kris Satkunas contributing.