In-house counsel today report high job satisfaction (80 per cent), but appear to fall in line with concepts of a mobile, busy work force dealing with competing demands. Nearly two thirds would consider leaving their position for a career advancement opportunity and 30 per cent would consider a lateral move. The results back up a snap poll carried out for the GC Futures Summit which revealed that general counsel were finding their jobs more challenging than ever.
Increased workloads
On average, in-house counsel reported working 49 hours per week, in excess of the typical US and European workweeks of 40 and 35 hours, respectively. Additional hours may be a reaction to increased workloads, as 49 per cent of in-house attorneys reported that their workloads had grown over the past year. Fourty two per cent said they had stayed the same and 9 per cent said their workloads had decreased.
Tough business environments
'The 2015 ACC Global Census Report shows that in-house counsel today must balance a desire to innovate with meeting client needs in tough business environments,' says Veta Richardson, chief executive officer of ACC. 'The growing strategic aspects of the profession can compete with the daily demands of an in-house job, especially as workloads, geographic reach and management responsibilities continue to increase.'
Other findings include:
• In-house lawyers in Spain, Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and the United States reported higher than average job satisfaction.
• Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of in-house counsel have cross-border or multinational work responsibilities, a figure that rises to 86 and 82 per cent respectively for corporate counsel in Europe and Asia Pacific.
• Nearly half (45 per cent) of in-house lawyers in Europe rated privacy as a top challenge, compared to just 29 per cent in the United States.
• Fewer respondents stated they sought outside counsel input for bankruptcy, creditor or regulatory issues in 2015 than in 2011, when these were the top practice areas selected.
• Seventeen per cent of Census respondents reported identifying as a minority.
• In the United States, the percentage of in-house lawyers who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander rose from five to seven per cent between 2011 and 2015 and from three to five per cent for Hispanic respondents. The percentage of respondents identifying as African American/black held steady at four per cent.
GC Futures 2015
For more information on the 2015 ACC Global Census Report, please visit ACC. The themes will be discussed at the GC Futures Summit on 9 November in London. For further information, go to the GC Futures Summit website or email [email protected].
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
