Head of Legal Vs Gc

The role of Chief Legal Officer is a more recent position than that of General Counsel and, in some respects, an extension of the role of General Counsel. OCOL is a C-suite position that focuses on the legal department, but is also responsible for providing valid business solutions to issues that arise. A legal analysis is expected, but OCOL also keeps an eye on the business model and objectives of the company. In some cases, OCOL may also advise executives on compliance or other legal matters. OCOL may report directly, but generally reports to another C-level senior manager, such as the CEO or COO. OCOL balances the legal aspects of the business while monitoring the impacts and risks associated with new business steps. As the world becomes more complex, once niche disciplines become commonplace, while new specializations emerge almost every week. Ads for Digital Marketing Counsel and Data Privacy Counsel are now ubiquitous on lawyers` job boards, for example. They were unknown in the not-so-distant past. The president of the company just suggested that we change my title of general counsel to something more appropriate to reflect my legal obligations. He offered a position of General Counsel/Director of Regulatory Affairs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Second, an OCOL and GC can be a way for a company to find an external successor to the head of the legal function.

For example, let`s say a company has 10 lawyers and the current GC is in its early sixties and has announced that it is only a year or two away from retirement. The company may decide that hiring an Assistant General Counsel does not attract the talent it needs for a position that will almost certainly be a GC position in less than 24 months. But the current GC doesn`t want to leave right away, and none of the other lawyers is even willing to take the helm. As a result, the company conducts an external search for the GC successor, gives that person the GC designation, but reports to the former GC/now Chief Legal Officer for only 12-24 months. In this scenario, despite the fact that it is unpleasant, everyone is satisfied, and the arrangement succeeds for a limited time. In my experience, the job title has much more to do with company policies and salary level/structure than with the lawyer`s responsibilities. “Deputy General Counsel”, “Deputy General Counsel”, “Senior Counsel”, etc. The term “senior” seems to be more common in companies where the salary level of the lawyer in question meets questions of professional designation in non-legal fields, i.e. “senior” control system engineer, “senior” financial accountant. The title of your position itself belies it a bit: an “older” VP is probably an executive according to your company`s statutes, but a VP (not older) is the head of a department or similar, but without officer rank/functions/privileges, right? 11 Because an OCOL understands the overall business objectives and mission of the business, an OCOL can examine the legal aspects of a business decision from the perspective of running a successful business. An essential CLO is essential to successfully manage the legal aspects of your business. They don`t want someone in the role who thinks about decisions for weeks.

You want a confident OCOL who can review a legal request, effectively analyze the benefits and risks, and then move the process forward in a timely manner. Another disadvantage of a non-legal title is that it may be more difficult to obtain years of legal practice from a state bar association if you are trying to get yourself admitted to practice on the basis of years if your title was anything other than a legal title. 9 Some of the responsibilities of the Chief Legal Officer are listed below. A general counsel is a more traditional leader in a company. The GC focuses on managing a company`s legal compliance and corporate governance. Compensation: Compensation is the same as other executives – in the form of base salary, target bonuses, and stock allocations (somewhere between the HR director and the CFO). Stock is measured as a “percentage of business”. Employee benefits and exercises/priorities/changes of control are also coordinated with management. A question that often arises when conducting legal research is whether the new head of an organization`s legal function should assume the title of General Counsel or Chief Legal Officer. Similarly, the other related question we sometimes receive is whether a company should have both a General Counsel (OCO) and a General Counsel (GC).

The answer tends to be a solid “No, but…” First, in some cases, the legal department is large enough (e.g., 30+ lawyers) for a CEO to want both an OCOL and a GC. OCOL would work closely with the Board of Directors, the CEO and other members of the executive team (i.e. CFO, COO) and would devote the majority of his time to managing these relationships, focusing on “global” topics such as corporate strategy, organizational growth and cultural creators. The GoC, on the other hand, would ensure that the entire legal team would report to them and would be the one to manage the day-to-day legal function. In this scenario, the GoC is responsible for and reports to the OCL. While this arrangement is likely to still be confusing, it can succeed by allowing OCOL to part with thorny and time-consuming legal quagmires and also allowing another leading lawyer (the GoC) to spread its wings, oversee a very large legal function, and not worry about some of the complex and nuanced personal political interactions. which can occur in sequence C. The GoC also contributes to the drafting of contracts and the review of commercial transaction documents. In addition, they may be responsible for preparing reports related to litigation or other legal matters. In addition to preventing violations of the law, general counsel must strategically plan the management team.

In fact, many directors believe that one of the most valuable functions of the general counsel is to advise the board as well as the management team on business strategy matters. It can take months for your company to fill internal legal positions, and even if the position is filled, the candidate may not be a good candidate. A general counsel or chief counsel role and other key positions in the legal department must be filled quickly with the right qualified professionals. Competent in-house legal talent is an important part of your company`s team, and finding the best legal talent is necessary if you want to compete in today`s economy. You can`t afford to make mistakes when you find the right candidate for a position as a general counsel, legal counsel, general counsel, or other important legal positions. OCOL must have a solid understanding of the law and its impact on business decisions. They need to understand how to translate business goals into actionable legal strategies. This understanding requires extensive experience in legal and commercial matters.