General Counsels (GCs) speaking at the ALM General Counsel Summit in Sydney, have highlighted the need for corporate legal departments to demonstrate their value within the business setup. This sentiment becomes all the more relevant amidst the transition to work-from-home norms and tightened corporate budgets.
While technological advances and generative AI have made remote work easier and more viable for legal professionals, they do not eliminate the need for face-to-face interactions. According to the GCs, these interactions are critical for cultivating the level of trust and fostering the relationships necessary for in-house counsel to be effective.
However, the shift in work culture and the current economic scenario are challenging in-house counsels to find innovative ways to exhibit their importance and influence in the organization. In an era where fewer days are spent physically in the office, and most interactions are digitized, proving the value of these legal departments becomes critical.
Within the framework of these changes, it becomes essential for legal professionals, especially in-house counsel, to adapt. They need to balance the advantages offered by technology with the foundational importance of human interaction. This may involve a careful mix of online and offline engagements, or novel ways of solidifying business relationships in a digital environment.
The speakers at the ALM General Counsel Summit emphasized that technology is an enabler, and while it could be transformative in many aspects of legal work, it is not expected to replace the trust, understanding, and rapport that human lawyers build with the business’s stakeholders.
More insight into this discussion can be found in the original report by law.com.