New regulations and laws are the most common drivers of work volume increases for general counsel, according to the first part of the “General Counsel Report” published by FTI Consulting, Inc. and global legal technology company Relativity.
Tariffs and contract management were next in line for the 97 percent of general counsel reporting that their workload increased. Eighty-seven percent of respondents claimed that the continually rising risk and demand was speeding up within their organizations; 39 percent of general counsel have incorporated artificial intelligence and generative AI into their strategies for addressing the heightened risk and demand – a 10 percent uptick compared to the previous year.
Respondents highlighted regulatory activity and data privacy as the leading risks, with 30 percent indicating that they encountered increased regulatory activity. Thirty-seven percent of general counsel said their disputes and investigations work were linked to regulatory investigations and other criminal matters, while 34 percent pointed to data breaches.
Disputes and investigations work has become more costly for 57 percent of respondents, and chief information officers reported that risk, demand and operations are more expensive, complex, and unpredictable. Moreover, 33 percent of general counsel reported the genesis of new areas of legal work.
“Robots and regulations have topped data privacy and data protection in the minds of general counsel — at least for the moment. Compared to the immediate post-GDPR days, regulation and AI have taken center stage. In fact, 87 percent of chief legal officers reported that their departments used generative AI for legal functions over the past year, and generative AI was not even one of the top legal risk concerns,” said David Horrigan, discovery counsel and legal education director at Relativity, in a statement.
Ari Kaplan Advisors principal Ari Kaplan noted that although most respondents did not rank generative AI as a top risk, 70 percent highlighted their concerns with the technology.
“This finding provides insight into how pervasive AI has become across every aspect of the legal department and the way legal leaders approach it: they’re scrutinizing it but also view it as an opportunity for improving their work,” Kaplan said.
Seventy-seven percent of general counsel also reported their information governance proactiveness across technology and the business.
“General counsel are meeting the current moment with composure, resourcefulness and a keen sense of the impact they have within their organizations. According to this year’s study, legal department leaders have been steadfast in balancing the increasing demands of risk mitigation against pressure to enable innovation, even as they experience a higher volume of work across more than 20 unique categories,” said Sophie Ross, FTI Technology’s global chief executive officer. “Importantly, as general counsel become more sophisticated in using technology to enable efficiencies, they remain focused on the value of trusted relationships and outside expertise to help them navigate unpredictability and new challenges.”
The General Counsel Report is on its seventh annual edition. Results were gleaned from qualitative and quantitative surveys of over 200 general counsel across 12 countries, with CIOs and transformation heads providing additional insights.
The second part of the report will be published next month.