Today`s Chief Legal Officer (CLO) is multidimensional and no longer just an extraordinary legal tactician. An OCOL is also a strategic thinker and senior executive who operates at the highest and most influential level of the company. To succeed in the role of Chief Legal Counsel, an OCOL must divide their time between “four faces”: strategist, catalyst, tutor and operator. Operator: As an operator, you spend much of your time focusing on how to build a strong legal operations function and optimize the skills, talents, service levels, costs, and legal structures needed to better serve your trading partners. The four faces of the Chief Legal Officer are saved The role of today`s Chief Legal Officer is complex and requires much more than legal expertise in operations. To succeed, an OCOL must master and find the right balance between “four faces”: strategist, catalyst, goalkeeper and operator. Strategist: As a strategist, you are able to communicate to your business partners a clear legal strategy that supports and enables the business strategy. In this role as General Counsel, you will provide the senior management team with legal advice to achieve their growth objectives. When a large, publicly traded company hires a new OCL, it can make headlines, as can hiring a new COO or CFO. An OCOL usually has a long career in law. Positions an OCOL can hold before becoming an executive include Chief Legal Officer, Senior General Counsel and Partner of the firm. Guardian: In Guardian mode, you need to lead the company`s legal and regulatory affairs, manage complexity while minimizing risk. This is the core responsibility of the role of Chief Legal Officer and the in-house legal team.

How do OCLs manage their time so they can focus on the strategist and catalyst categories? By focusing on building a strong legal function and/or creating leverage in your legal department to manage the guardianship and operator functions. While it may initially be necessary for new OCOL to spend 60-65% of their time as tutors and operators (repairing or restructuring what they have inherited), it is important that new OCOL avoid spending the majority of their time on these long-term responsibilities, as this could signal to the rest of senior management that OCOL is not becoming a management strategy. Priorities often have components that touch more than one face. For example, the priority of “aligning legal priorities and resources with corporate strategy” may include elements of the strategist`s role that understand (and potentially influence) the company`s strategy and its relationship to the legal department`s strategy. It can also address the role of the operator and implement processes and procedures for the legal team to help them adapt. In the same way, the priority of “legal talent management” may appear as a simple priority of the operator. However, if the company has recently acquired talent through a merger, or if there is a significant strategic shift for the company or an evolution towards a more technology-driven legal department, talent management could be a strategic priority. It may even be a catalyst priority, for example if the talent plan is to help influence the global risk profile. All four faces exist simultaneously, and OCL`s ability to navigate each of them should be fluid. The structure of each company may vary, and the specific tasks of the CLO role may not be the same in all organizations.

The position may involve keeping senior management informed of new or changing laws that may impact or relate to their business and industry. OCOL can also, if necessary, establish curricula for employees who need to understand legal issues and protocols related to their roles or business operations. Catalyst: A catalyst provides a competitive advantage by providing the legal perspective and critical advice needed to facilitate the management team`s ability to choose the right path forward and set the tone at the top of the company. If the company is involved in litigation, the general counsel may represent the firm directly, lead the legal team that does so, or choose the lawyer who will do so. If there isn`t already a strong legal operations manager, finding one should be a top priority. If we checked a year after an OCOL took over a legal department, the biggest regret is that we didn`t make talent decisions sooner – putting the right people in the right role, realigning the team, or separating people who are difficult or whose skills don`t match the department`s needs. A Chief Legal Officer (CLO) is often the most powerful legal manager in a publicly traded company. The Chief Legal Officer (COO) is an expert and officer who assists the Company in mitigating its legal risks by advising other officers and directors of the Company on all major legal and regulatory matters facing the Company, such as litigation risks.

Understanding contracts signed by the Company, as well as confidentiality agreements, may also be the responsibility of the OCOL.