Navigating Geopolitical Risk: A Brief Guide
In an era of escalating global tensions and uncertainty, businesses are facing unprecedented challenges from geopolitical instability that can disrupt operations, damaging reputations, and impact financial performance. Based on a survey of law department leaders across 200 US-based organizations, this report offers data-driven insights for chief legal officers and other business leaders seeking to navigate these complex challenges.
GenAI and Future Corporate Legal Work: How Ready Are In-house Teams?
The legal industry is undergoing a seismic shift. Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly emerging as a transformative force, reshaping the landscape of in-house legal departments. This survey report, based on responses from 475 in-house legal professionals in the United States, investigates the current state of GenAI adoption among in-house legal teams, exploring the perceived benefits, challenges, and expectations for the future of in-house legal work and career paths.
The Impact of AI on Attorney-Client Privilege
The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the legal profession raises important questions about the protection of sensitive information, including attorney-client or legal professional privilege. This ACC global survey of 456 in-house counsel reveals significant concerns about potential breaches of legal privilege when using AI tools. While recognizing that the risk varies based on several factors, many believe establishing clear guidelines for using AI in legal practice can help mitigate these risks.
A Data-Driven Look at DEI in Legal Departments
This ACC Foundation report explores the current landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within legal departments. We analyze data from hundreds of legal departments globally, revealing both progress made and areas for improvement.
The New In-house Lawyer: A Brief Guide to Success
This brief guide provides high level frameworks of the operational environment, data-driven insights into law department priorities, and suggestions for continual learning to get new in-house counsel up to speed quickly. Equipped with this knowledge, you will find actionable recommendations on how to effectively support those priorities and make a significant impact from day one. We also highlight valuable educational programs specifically designed to empower new in-house lawyers, setting you on the path to a flourishing and successful career.
Unlocking the Strategic Potential of the Chief Legal Officer: The Power of Reporting Structure
Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) who have a "seat" at both the executive and boardroom tables are in the best possible position to guide their organizations in their compliance with legal and ethical obligations. Legal leaders who report directly to the CEO and have a direct reporting line to the board are more involved in corporate governance; business strategy; and diversity, equity, and inclusion; and environmental, social, and governance initiatives. This presentation highlights key results from ACC's 2024 Chief Legal Officers Survey and offers 12 reasons why CLOs need direct access to the CEO and the organization's board.
How Chief Legal Officers Can Lead On Corporate Data Security
Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) face a growing burden due to rising data security concerns. Many organizations lack strong data management plans, and some CLOs have not done enough to stay on top of compliance obligations with respect to data security. This, along with a complex regulatory environment, erodes CLOs' confidence in tackling data threats. This guide offers 10 actionable strategies and resources to empower them. All data cited in this report is sourced from the 2024 Chief Legal Officers Survey.
2024 CLO Outlook: Key Chief Legal Officer Expectations for 2024
Corporate legal departments are facing an unprecedented series of challenges, including an increasingly difficult regulatory environment, global economic uncertainty, cost reduction mandates, significant outside counsel cost increases, and rapid technological advancement, just to name a few. This deck shares five key expectations for CLOs and law departments in 2024 based on results from ACC's 2024 Chief Legal Officers Survey.
2024 Chief Legal Officers Survey
The 2024 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey, conducted in partnership with Exterro, seeks to understand how the role of the CLO is evolving, the priorities and challenges in managing a corporate legal department, and the ways in which legal teams bring value to the business. This year's report is based on responses from 669 CLOs from organizations spanning 20 industries and 31 countries.
Legal Operations ACC Survey Findings
Legal operations is a rapidly growing field. Operations professionals have become essential to the maturation and efficiency of legal departments, helping give legal teams increased capacity to demonstrate the unique value they bring to the broader organization. This resource presents a series of visuals on the state of legal operations and perspective of individuals currently in a legal operations role based on ACC surveys published throughout 2023.
The State of Collaboration in Corporate Legal Departments
This survey, conducted in partnership with Everlaw and based on responses from 373 in-house professionals in the United States, aims to better understand the extent to which corporate legal departments are collaborating with other business units, how legal teams are collaborating with their law firms and other vendors, and how technology plays a role in enabling collaboration.
2023 Legal Technology Report for In-house Legal Professionals
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Exterro, the leader in Legal GRC software, are pleased to present our 2023 Legal Technology Report for In-House Legal Professionals. The report provides key insights for legal professionals on legal technology usage trends, purchasing behavior, and ongoing challenges.
Advancing DEI Strategy with Actionable Law Firm Diversity Data: An In-house Legal Resource
As the ACC Foundation continues to build its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) thought leadership within the in-house legal community and beyond, we have partnered with Justice Bid and their Operation Empowering Change (OEC) initiative. This report shares leading practices for legal departments on how to engage their outside counsel most effectively with respect to setting DEI standards.
2023 An Inside Look at Legal Entity Management Practices
ACC, in collaboration with Deloitte Tax LLP's Legal Business Services Practice, is pleased to present the 2023 edition of An Inside Look at Legal Entity Management Practices. The purpose of this report is to improve our understanding of existing legal entity management (LEM) team structures and practices that organizations have in place to manage complex compliance and regulatory obligations.
ACC Foundation: 2022 State of Cybersecurity Report, An In-house Perspective
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Foundation, in collaboration with Ernst & Young, LLP, is pleased to present the 2022 State of Cybersecurity Report, An In-house Perspective. The results reveal that the legal department plays an increasingly important role in cybersecurity strategy and that the chief legal officer (CLO) is often front and center.
The data included in this report represents 265 organizations across 17 industries and 24 countries, providing a comprehensive understanding of how legal departments of different sizes engage in cybersecurity matters.
The State of Corporate Litigation Today Survey Report
ACC, in partnership with Everlaw, is pleased to present this timely survey report, capturing insights from 202 in-house counsel and legal operations professionals on how legal departments handle different aspects of the corporate litigation process.
The report aims to better understand the outside counsel selection process for litigation matters, the tools that departments are using for litigation workflows, the most common cost containment strategies, and how litigation needs are expected to change over time.
Trends in Legal Transformation and Technology Report
ACC, in partnership with DISCO, is pleased to present this survey report that captures insights from 278 law department leaders and legal operations professionals on how they have engaged in transformation within their departments, the kinds of initiatives they have focused on with respect to their investigations and litigation work, the barriers experienced, and the keys to success.
Collecting Online Data for eDiscovery & Litigation Readiness Report
ACC and Pagefreezer are pleased to present the Collecting Online Data for eDiscovery & Litigation Readiness Report, which aims to understand how legal departments are dealing with the substantial growth in new data sources that most companies have experienced over the last few years, and to identify key challenges. The results reveal important quantitative insights into the maturity of Information Governance (IG) programs and the extent to which legal departments are prepared for the discovery process involved in potential litigation.
2021 ACC Legal Operations: Who Uses What Legal Technology?
This report provides a summary of the use of technology within legal departments, based on a survey conducted in autumn 2020 at the behest of the Tools & Technology Interest Group of ACC Legal Operations. Like its 2018 predecessor, this survey report also facilitates conversations among ACC Legal Operations members about the utility and effectiveness of the technology tools that they are using by including a directory of participants who are willing to be contacted, as well as a comprehensive list of companies using specific tools.
Research Archive
Explore ACC's Research Archive to learn about other interesting topics covered in previous reports, such as global corporate legal practices, in-house trends, law department management, and much more.