General Counsel in the 21st Century

This unique new handbook, includes chapters by leading experts on a diverse range of topics, explaining how legal departments can best support the businesses they serve, devise astute legal strategies, collaborate with other departments to optimum effect and source the skill sets they need, among other things.

The function of the general counsel - and in wider terms, the legal in-house department - has undergone a remarkable change in recent years. Law as such is now understood as a valuable resource, not just as a limit on commercial activities, by businesses around the world. As a result, the way that the legal function is managed is coming under heightened scrutiny from the world of management.This unique new handbook, produced in association with the International Bar Association, includes chapters by leading experts on a diverse range of topics, explaining how legal departments can best support the businesses they serve, devise astute legal strategies, collaborate with other departments to optimum effect and source the skill sets they need, among other things. The consulting editors, Chris Vaagt and Wolf Peter Gross, have both been advisers to legal departments since 1997.The handbook has been compiled to reflect current changes and anticipate what may happen in the future. Readers - whether in-house counsel or private practitioners - will learn new and perhaps surprising lessons about the drivers for change in the traditional world of the business of law.

Part I. IntroductionNew challenges and opportunities for the general counsel in the 21st CenturyChristoph H VaagtWolf Peter GrossLaw Firm Change ConsultantsPart II. StrategyIntegrating law and strategy: the value of legal astutenessConstance BagleyYale Law SchoolStrategy and the leveraging of legal resourcesRobert C BirdUniversity of ConneticutCase study: the difference between doing some legal work and adding valueAbhijit MukhopadhyaHindujaManaging legal risk: A bridge too far for lawyers?Peter KurerCorporate governanceBruno CovaPaul HastingsPart III. LeadershipExpanding roles for general counsel: new competencies needed for the 21st CenturyLeigh DanceELDGeneral counsel as innovation agentsPaul LippeOnRamp Systems – Legal By DesignLawyers at the revolutionKent WalkerSenior Vice President & General Counsel, GoogleProactive resource management: a personal learning journeyMax HuebnerPGGM NVGeneral counsel – leaders in the legal arenaChristian RauDaVitaPart IV. OrganisationManaging workloads into the futurePaul SmithEvershedsLegal standard settersJochen DeisterDMZ LegalCarsten ReimannXenion LegalThe legal disruption dilemma: A case study on new serviceFilip CorveleynFelix RackwitzTools4Legal GmbHHow IT can support managing law in organisationsScott RosenbergProject Leader AssociatesCompliance in the area of data managementDennis GrabherrAttorney at Law