More than four in 10 C-suite executives say their legal departments are failing to provide meaningful support for meeting their organisational goals, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.
The 2026 State of Corporate Law Report found that 42% of executives believe legal contributes little or nothing at all to their organisational objectives. That stands in stark contrast with the assessment of general counsel, with 86% saying they believe their legal department is a significant contributor. Only 17% of C-Suite executives agree with that view.
Thomson Reuters said: “To GCs, it is clear that corporate law overall has moved forward over the past few years to better adjust its operations to align with a changing business landscape. The problem is, the C-Suite may not have received the same memo.”
In-house teams may be struggling to demonstrate a greater contribution because they are still being asked to do more with less, with 48% of GCs saying that staffing and resource constraints are holding their legal departments back from delivering value and 24% citing budget or financial constraints. Another 18% cite time and workload management as a major constraint.
Amid these limitations, GCs recognise a need for greater efficiency to help their resources to stretch further. A majority of GCs are increasingly turning to technology as an efficiency driver, with 60% of legal heads in mainland Europe citing technology adoption as a key component of their strategic plans – 27% higher than a year ago. Likewise, in the UK, 43% cited technology adoption as a driver of their efficiency goals, an 18% increase from a year ago.
Even with tighter budget constraints, 32% of respondents said they expect to increase spending on regulatory matters, followed by disputes (30%) and M&A (26%). Respondents said they plan to reduce legal spend in areas including insurance (16%), banking and finance (14%) and labour and employment (13%).
AI use is also increasing. Nearly half (47%) of all corporate legal departments now have access to generative AI tools and mentions of technology as a strategic priority have doubled in the past year, according to the survey.
Some 34% of respondents said they are already starting to see AI generate efficiency and productivity gains and another 43% said they expect to experience such gains within the next 12 months. And while only 18% said they had seen AI use contribute to cost reductions so far, 42% said they anticipate savings over the coming year.
Another 33% of respondents said using AI had already started freeing up time for strategic work, with another 40% expecting gains in this area over the next 12 months.
The report was based on interviews with more than 2,300 GCs globally.
The study echoes a report published by BarkerGilmore back in February, which also showed a disconnect between where GCs believe they are delivering value and what boards are actually seeing from their legal departments.
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