Canadian Lawyer InHouse

April 2015 30 INHOUSE Data breaches and compliance keeping ClOs on their toes 1,289 individuals in 46 countries, revealed that 27 per cent of CLOs and GCs work at organizations that have experienced a data breach in the past two years. The likelihood that a company experienced a data breach in- creased to over 50 per cent among companies with more than $4 billion in revenue, accord- ing to the survey. "Thwarting and responding to breaches of corporate data is increasingly a reality for today's GCs and CLOs," said Veta Richard- son, ACC president and CEO. "As attempted data breaches become more sophisticated, the CLO will play a growing role in cybersecu- rity strategy, risk assessment and prevention." Of the 1,043 respondents to the 2015 survey, who answered the question "in which country is your office located?" 79, or eight per cent, MOre than One quarter of gen- eral counsel today are grappling with data breaches and it turns out Canadian in-house lawyers are more willing than their peers around the world to report them. According to a recent Association of Cor- porate Counsel 2015 survey of chief legal officers, one in four CLOs reported experi- encing a data breach within their organiza- tions over the past two years. CLOs in the health care industry were most likely to report a breach compared with all other industries, and CLOs from Canada (41 per cent) were most likely to report a breach when compared with CLOs in Asia Pacific (14 per cent) and the United States (26 per cent). The survey, which includes responses from reported they were based in Canada. CLOs based in Canada provided the second-highest response rate. Although CLOs from the telecommunica- tions, transportation, professional services, and educational services industries all re- ported their companies had experienced data breaches at higher-than-average rates, health care led all industries in data breach preva- lence. According to the survey, 49 per cent of health care industry CLOs said their compa- nies have experienced breaches since 2012. The 2015 survey included new ques- tions regarding diversity among the ranks of CLOs. Examining the overall represen- tation of women, minorities, and LGBT in-house lawyers raised questions about continuing compensation gaps. While 38 Association of Corporate Counsel survey takes the pulse of in-house leaders on issues of salary, budget, and compliance hiring. BY JENNifEr BrOWN Data breaches rIsk assessment DIversIty total comPensatIon corPorate Data corPorate communcatIons telecommunIcatIons alternatIve fee arrangements mergers anD acquIsItIons transParency salary comPlIance l aw D e p a r t m e n t m a n a g e m e n t

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