While most CLOs are growing or maintaining their in-house workforce, lawyers in the oil and gas sector appear to be facing tougher times. According to the survey findings, 20 per cent of oil and gas CLOs have been forced to make significant cuts to their in-house team over the last 12 months, compared with just 4 per cent overall. Meanwhile, 37 per cent of CLOs reported adding in-house staff, with departments based in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America enjoying the strongest growth. Legal operations staff positions also appear to be on the rise, with nearly half of all survey respondents reporting legal operations staff in their department. This is up significantly from the ACC's 2015 survey results, when only two in 10 CLOs said that their department had such a position.

Regulation a key concern

The survey included 1,137 chief legal officers from companies in 41 different countries. The results confirm that issues around ethics, compliance and regulation remain top concerns for CLOs worldwide. While 70 per cent of those surveyed said that regulatory challenges will be the most important issue that they face over the next 12 months, 31 per cent reported that their department has already been targeted by a regulator for enforcement or investigation of an alleged regulatory violation. As companies expand across multiple jurisdictions, the ACC report suggests that the trend towards bulking up in-house teams might reflect CLOs' efforts to cover the expanding global compliance demands facing their companies. Sources: ACC; New York Times; Canadian Lawyer Mag