Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50894
INCLOSING Our roundup of interesting trends and what's going on in legal departments SEEN&HEARD ACC's annual CLO survey results According to the results of the Asso- ciation of Corporate Counsel's (ACC) eighth annual chief legal officer survey, 85 per cent of CLOs found their careers Lawyers in the EU keen to avoid US courts A recent survey by international law firm Lovells LLP shows that 29 per cent of European in-house counsel were most concerned about facing a major dispute in the United States. The survey queried 180 corporate counsel working in five European countries and found that only 16 per cent were concerned about facing major disputes in Russia or China. However, Lovells says that coun- sel were averse to U.S. courts not because they're corrupt but rather that the system "is filled with traps in which the inexperienced or unin- formed may easily become caught." Lawyers predict more hiring in next 12 months Many law firms and corporate legal departments expect to hire additional lawyers in the next 12 months, a new survey from Robert Half Legal shows. Forty-five per cent of lawyers polled said they plan to hire additional personnel in the year ahead while just three per cent of respondents anticipate staff reduc- tions. The specialty areas anticipated to grow the fast- est, according to those surveyed, include bankruptcy, litigation, and ethics and corporate governance. The survey includes responses from 300 lawyers among the largest law firms and corporations in the United States and Canada. All respondents have at least three years of experience in the legal field. 38 JUNE 2008 C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE to be rewarding and "welcomed oppor- tunities to expand their roles and the support they provided to their clients." The survey, conducted in conjunction with the ACC's annual meeting, queried more than 1,000 CLOs and GCs across the U.S. In spite of increased scrutiny compa- nies have been under and shifts in re- sponsibilities resulting from governance reforms, only 30 per cent said these factors played a role in future decision- making; while 59 per cent said the in- creased scrutiny had a small influence on their overall career satisfaction, noting a "healthy appetite for risk." When asked how they would charac- terize their relationship with outside au- ditors over the past few years, a fraction indicated that there was a slight improve- ment in the relationship with their out- side auditors (16 per cent), some said it had been difficult (25 per cent), but most indicated that the relationship remained unchanged (59 per cent). The survey results also found that CLOs and general counsel con- tinue to spend the majority of their time on corporate trans- actional work (70 per cent), followed by compliance (28 per cent), and board relations (21 per cent). While compliance, governance, and e-discovery are hot topics, survey re- spondents indicated that records man- agement would be the next significant issue that general counsel would tackle in 2008, followed closely by staff recruiting, retention, and training. When asked what initiatives outside counsel could implement to improve the relationship with their legal depart- ment, respondents ranked alternative billing/flexible billing/e-billing as the best initiative, followed closely by offer- ing seminars, training and CLE sessions, and providing updates on developments in applicable areas of law. Conversely, in 2006, seminars/train- ing/CLE was ranked highest, while alter- native billing options ranked third. will experience the most growth in the next 12 months? Don't know 3% Which one of the following areas of law Bankruptcy 25% Labour relations/employment 1% Other 3% Mergers and acquisitions 1% Litigation 24% General corporate/commercial 2% Healthcare 2% Intellectual property 16% Real estate 6% Ethics and corporate governance 17%