The entire legal ecosystem should closely monitor the GC role as it casts a light on the roles, skillsets, demands, and opportunities lawyers will confront in the new marketplace, according to Mark Cohen in an article for Forbes. He describes general counsel—and large corporate departments - as 'law’s petri dish. They are reconfiguring the boundaries and expanding the expectations of what it means to be an effective corporate lawyer.'

Epicentre

He says that GCs are at the epicentre of change. 'A Trinity of powerful macroeconomic forces—globalisation, technology, and the global financial crisis changed the way corporations conduct business and accelerated the metamorphosis of the GC role into what it is today. Corporate legal departments, long the largest consumers of legal services, are now its biggest providers.' Mr Cohen says in the article that this seismic shift in market share was initially regarded as labour arbitrage but, 'in fact, the migration of work from firms to corporate departments and service providers was the initial phase of a paradigmatic shift that has recast how and by whom legal services are provided.'  In the new world, technology and process wins over old law firm 'brute force' delivery structures.

GC portfolio

But the sheer breadth and diversity of the GC's portfolio across geographies, different business units, regulatory systems and technologies often conflict and test the GC's knowledge of the business and the people.  Furthermore, gcs must also be both 'defensive' and 'offensive'. Mr Cohen also highlights the role of conscience in this multifacited job with responsibilities on a number of fronts here. GCs should be active members of the legal/business ecosystem, providing thought leadership and 'giving back' to the broader legal community, he says. No wonder GCs are now highly paid, he adds.