Page 12 - CCCA 247020 Magazine Spring 2016

{ PraCTICe ManageMenT }

Keep it sYstemAtiC:

meeting mAnAgement ChAllenges in the legAl depArtment

By Richard Stock

It is not just here in the Great north. General Counsel in the
U.S. and Europe are experiencing the same types of business,
resource and management challenges as their Canadian
counterparts. Given the deteriorations in many regional and
national economies since the beginning of 2016, few law

departments are likely to improve their prospects in the near
future without some fundamental changes.

ver the past year, I have met with and For our sake, I condensed them into
interviewed more than 50 General four categories:
oCounsel in the U.S. and Europe. My ■ Coverage, Organization and Resources
frst question: “What top three challenges ■ Effciency, Workfows and Workloads
are you seeking to address or what are ■ Value, Performance, Metrics and KPIs
your top three projects for this year?” ■ Legal Spend and Costs
Some of the U.S. companies I spoke Coverage for legal departments depends
with are household names: Coleman, on having enough resources of the right
Hershey, Hyundai, Purina-Nestlé and type and in the right locations—especially
Red Lobster. Other companies are less for multi-nationals. But it also depends on
well known because they are not visible explicit protocols for managing work in-
in retail consumer markets; their sectors take and allocation within the department.
include insurance, electronics, medical It was clear during the interviews that
technology, wind turbines and build- many departments feel they are chronically
ing materials. Annual revenues average overwhelmed. At least fve of the European
US$20 billion per company. departments experiencing workload and re-
The European companies I met are not source issues are “regional counsel” (Europe
well known in Canada, but the industry sec- and the Middle East) for multi-nationals.
tors are familiar: media, pharmaceuticals, They appear to have little success in secur-
engineering, telecommunications, a retail ing support from their global headquarters.
eyeglass chain, and a manufacturer of semi- While some had not succeeded in mak-
conductors, among others. In one case, an- ing the business case for more resources,
nual revenues approached €€35 billion, but a few were struggling to keep up with the
the average is closer to €€20 billion. company’s success in new and emerging
Even though there were differences markets. The demand for metrics and
among the companies, they all ex- KPIs is the leading challenge. Demon-
pressed similar management challenges. strating value is critical for legal depart-

12 CCCa MaGazInE | SPRInG 2016 PRInTEMPS