The Association of Corporate Counsel, in partnership with Exterro, has released the 2023 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey. The survey aims to provide the in-house legal community with insights into the evolving role of the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) and how legal departments are positioned to help organisations most effectively adapt to the broader business environment.
This report provides unparalleled insights directly from CLOs on trends, challenges, and opportunities they see for the year ahead. This year’s results again highlight the immense value that Legal brings to the businesses it serves.
A key highlight again was the growing influence of the CLO within company leadership. There continues to be an increase in oversight functions for CLOs, particularly in the areas of privacy and cybersecurity, which pose significant challenges to businesses with mounting regulatory pressures.
This year, fewer CLOs expect to hire additional legal positions, less work is expected to be sent to outside counsel or other service providers, and most are focused on advancing legal operations and cost minimisation strategies. These are likely due to the pressures of the recessionary environment.
Providing relevant data-driven insights from member CLOs worldwide on their challenges, priorities, and outlook is critical to ACC’s core purpose of supporting the needs of the in-house law department.