The January 2016 study, conducted by the New York Stock Exchange and legal recruiter Barker Gilmore, asked directors and officers from 200 companies to weigh in on the changing role of in-house counsel within companies. The resulting report, entitled 'The Rise of the General Counsel', found that on overwhelming 96.5 per cent of managers expect their GC to be part of their executive management team by 2020, a figure which has grown 16 per cent in the last decade. But which traits will help in-house lawyers climb the ranks? The survey uncovered some surprising answers.

Desirable traits

Most valuable among the characteristics of the GC of the future, according to survey respondents, are sound judgment and high integrity, cited by 72 per cent and 69 per cent of executive managers respectively. Legal expertise came in at a somewhat surprising third place wit 63 per cent. However, more surprising still were the traits that ended up down the other end of the list. Innovation was cited by just 3 per cent of respondents as an important trait for GCs in 2020, with team-building abilities and willingness to embrace change doing little better with a measly 5 per cent apiece. And despite the common rhetoric that in-house lawyers need to start using performance indicators to measure and report 'results', being results driven was only viewed as important by 11 per cent of respondents.

Changing roles

The survey also provided insight into how the role of the GC may evolve over the coming five years. At present, 78 per cent of respondents said that their GC also served as corporate secretary, while 55 per cent were also chief compliance offer, 16 per cent the chief government relations officer and 14 per cent chief risk officer. However by 2020, respondents expect fewer GCs to be acting in corporate secretary and chief compliance officer functions and more to hold the titles of chief risk officer and chief government relations officer (predicted 31 per cent and 25 per cent of respondents respectively). In terms of function, 79 per cent said that acting as an adviser to the board would be the most important way GCs could add value by 2020. Promoting best governance practices was also viewed as an important value-adding function, cited by 65 per cent of respondents. Comparatively fewer respondents emphasised contributions to business strategy (24 per cent) and risk analysis expertise (37 per cent) as important value-adding functions for the future GC.

Sources: Bloomberg BNA ; Barker Gilmore