what is a chief lawyer

A Chief Legal Officer is typically a lawyer that is dedicated to handling the legal needs of a business. With this broad description, Chief Legal Officers require a solid understanding of the business and their goals, business models, and future ambitions. This ensures that legal decisions are always made with the company’s needs and goals.

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What is a chief legal officer?

Chief legal officers (or general counsels) are chief lawyers and have the responsibility of overseeing every legal aspect of a business or law firm. As the head lawyer, they are paid a premium salary which according to the Bureu of Labor Statistics (BLS) can be as high as $187,199 (90th percentile in 2013) or more depending on the industry.

Can a top lawyer also be a chief administrative officer?

Sep 27, 2021 · A chief legal officer is a lawyer with a Juris Doctor (JD) degree, state license and extensive corporate experience. As the head of a corporate legal department, a CLO is responsible for overseeing a company’s legal affairs.

Should your company hire a general counsel or chief legal officer?

The chief legal officer is a trusted business advisor, operating in an executive role at the highest levels of most companies. Learn more about the “four faces” of the chief legal officer role. The role of today’s chief legal officer (CLO) is complex, …

What is the role of the chief litigator?

May 27, 2021 · A Chief Legal Officer is typically a lawyer that is dedicated to handling the legal needs of a business. With this broad description, Chief Legal Officers require a solid understanding of the business and their goals, business models, and future ambitions. This ensures that legal decisions are always made with the company’s needs and goals.

What is the highest position of a lawyer?

The managing partner sits at the top of the law firm hierarchy. A senior-level or founding lawyer of the firm, she manages day-to-day operations. She often heads an executive committee comprised of other senior partners, and she helps to establish and guide the firm's strategic vision.Aug 13, 2019

What is a chief in law?

The Chief Legal Officer is the head of the corporate legal department and is responsible for the legal affairs of the entire corporation. This role includes providing legal counsel to the board of directors, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and other senior management.

What is the difference between a chief legal officer and a general counsel?

The role of chief legal officer is a newer position than the general counsel and in some ways is an expansion of the general counsel role. The CLO is a C-Suite position that focuses on the legal department but is also responsible for providing valid business solutions to arising problems.Nov 19, 2020

Who reports to the chief legal officer?

In general, a chief legal officer's professional history includes roles such as the head of legal, general counsel, and general partner. The CLO may also be a member of the company's operating committee and is overseen by the CEO.

What does a chief administrative officer do?

The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of a company and is in charge of specific departments (such as finance, HR, and sales), reporting directly to the CEO and board of directors. As such, the CAO is often known as the Chief Operating Officer (COO).

What does Chief Operations Officer do?

The chief operating officer (COO) is a senior executive tasked with overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of a business. The COO typically reports directly to the chief executive officer (CEO) and is considered to be second in the chain of command.

Can a company have two general counsels?

Sometimes, it takes two. The legal department at Hearst Communications recently took the unusual step of appointing dual general counsel. Here are four others that have adopted this unusual model.Aug 10, 2018

What is the title given to the states chief legal officer?

attorney general, the chief law officer of a state or nation and the legal adviser to the chief executive.Sep 29, 2020

Is general counsel part of the C suite?

The roles of general counsel (GC), chief legal officer (CLO), and corporate counsel (CC) have been growing in importance as C-suite leadership teams become more aware of the elevated risk conditions they are working in as well as the long-term cost of those risks.Dec 14, 2020

What does C suite stand for in business?

The C-suite refers to a company's top management positions, where the "C" stands for "chief." Various chief ____ officers (e.g., CEO, CIO, CFO, etc.) are the occupants of the C-suite. These individuals, while highly paid and influential managers, are still employees of the firm.

Why should GC report to CEO?

While we may debate different governance models, most GCs agree that at the very least, a direct reporting line to the CEO — and exposure at the board level — elevates their credibility and stature within the organization, empowering general counsel to impact company culture, while demonstrating the company's ...

How do I become a legal officer?

To become a Legal Officer a candidate needs to have qualified graduation or post-graduation in Law (LLB or LLM) from a recognized institution or university. A candidate must have registered with Bar Council of India as an Advocate and few years of working experience of legal works in any court.Apr 29, 2019

What is the job of a chief legal officer?

Chief legal officers (or general counsels) are chief lawyers and have the responsibility of overseeing every legal aspect of a business or law firm.

How long does it take to become a chief legal officer?

Becoming a Chief Legal Officer. Becoming a chief legal officer can take years as a person must obtain a large amount of schooling as well as experience in order to enter the profession.

What degree do I need to become a lawyer?

Education Requirements. A bachelor’s degree in business law or pre-law studies is recommended in order to enroll in law school. During undergraduate studies a person will need to display excellence in order to be accepted into a quality law school.

What is the job of a chief legal officer?

A chief legal officer can be responsible for the following tasks: Helping companies minimize legal risks. Consulting a company's board of executives on legal advice and regulations. Overseeing a company's in-house attorneys and legal department.

How much does a chief legal officer make?

Chief legal officer salaries can vary depending on the level of education, years of experience, location and industry. The national average salary for a chief legal officer is $123,682 per year ...

What is the difference between a general counsel and a chief legal officer?

The key difference between these job titles is that the chief legal officer is more of a senior-level role. Along with managing legal teams, they may also ...

What is the career path for a corporate lawyer?

If you're interested in how businesses operate based on the law, then a career in corporate law may be the right career path for you. After years in this career, you can work your way up to the senior-level role of a chief legal officer. In this role, you need legal expertise to help companies follow laws and regulations while conducting business.

What is a CLO?

A chief legal officer (CLO) is a chief lawyer who is responsible for overseeing the legal affairs of a law firm or business . They often work for publicly traded companies as the most powerful legal executive. These companies want to ensure they are protecting their employees, assets and stakeholders by acting in accordance with the law.

How long does it take to become a chief legal officer?

Attend law school. Once you get into law school, you can decide which area of law you want to focus on. Most law school programs are three years long and require many hours of studying and coursework. As an aspiring chief legal officer, it's smart to focus on corporate law.

What is a general council?

A general council is more focused on ensuring the company is meeting its legal obligations. They are less involved in the company's profits and more focused on reviewing legal matters. A general counsel may need to represent the company in court and during private legal matters.

How to be a catalyst?

Some responsibilities that may be associated with the catalyst role: 1 Assess whether business is carried out in the right way; develop the corporate risk profile and a strong company-wide compliance framework 2 Empower the legal team to serve as trusted business advisors who are sought out to proactively help the business develop solutions 3 Take the lead in building a strong corporate culture that is aligned with the company’s values around compliance and integrity 4 Challenge the status quo as a change agent 5 Drive client satisfaction and experience, with legal as a value-added service

What percentage of CEOs spend on catalysts?

Deloitte’s research suggests that most CEOs and boards want new executives to spend about 60–70 percent of their time in the catalyst and strategist categories, with the remaining 30–40 percent in the guardian and operator categories. 1

Who is Lori from Deloitte?

Lori is a managing director with Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, and leads Research and Insights for the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Program. In this capacity, she designs research ini... More

What is a CLO?

A CLO is also a strategic thinker and a senior executive, operating at the highest and most impactful level of the company. To be successful in the top legal officer role, a CLO should divide his or her time between “four faces”—Strategist, Catalyst, Guardian, and Operator.

What is a legal officer strategist?

Strategist: As a strategist, you are in the position to bring your business partners clear legal strategy that supports and enables business strategy. In this legal officer role, you provide the senior executive team with legal guidance that enables achievement of growth objectives.

What are the responsibilities of a strategist?

Some responsibilities that may be associated with the strategist role: Build strong relationships with leadership teams. Build strong relationships with board members. Understand the strategy and value creation levers for the business and reflect them in your legal strategy.

What is a catalyst in business?

Catalyst: A catalyst enables competitive advantage by bringing a legal lens and the critical guidance needed to facilitate the executive leadership team’s ability to select the right path forward and set the tone at the top for the business. Some responsibilities that may be associated with the catalyst role:

Where is CLO appropriate?

In my view, CLO is also appropriate where the company may have divisional or subsidiary company general counsels who report, directly or informally, to the CLO at the parent company. 3

What is the Wisdom of the Crowd?

This Wisdom of the Crowd, compiled from questions and responses posted on the ACC Small Law Departments and Law Department Management Committee eGroups *, addresses the issue of disclaimer messages in company emails. The issues discussed include:

Can a lawyer lose attorney-client privilege?

It's well known that a lawyer operating in a business capacity can lose the attorney-client privilege normally associated with her office. While it will always be a fact-based analysis, changing your title to reflect the recognition of your non-legal role will inevitably work against the case for privilege in the regulatory context. 8

What is a CLO?

A general counsel, chief counsel, or chief legal officer ( CLO) is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their duties involve overseeing and identifying the legal issues in all departments ...

How many members does the ACC have?

Main article: Association of Corporate Counsel. The Association of Corporate Counsel ("ACC") has 35,000 general counsel, chief legal officer and other in-house counsel members located in 90 countries. ACC was founded as the American Corporate Counsel Association in 1982 and now includes more than 55 chapters, including in Argentina, ...

When was the GC100 formed?

In the United Kingdom a group of general counsel, called the GC100, was officially launched on 9 March 2005 and brings together the senior legal officers of more than eighty five FTSE 100 companies.

What is ACC in legal?

ACC provides members with resources to deliver services and advice to their companies, promotes the value of in-house legal services and advocates on behalf of general counsel. For its general counsel and chief legal officer members, ACC hosts roundtables where members discuss current practice trends and issues.

What is the General Counsel Forum?

The General Counsel Forum. The Forum is an association of 700 general counsel and senior managing counsel. The non-profit organization was founded in the fall of 1998 as the Dallas-Fort Worth General Counsel's Management Practices Forum (“DFWGCMPF”). The association is a partnership between in-house members and outside counsel, ...

What is the GC100?

The formal name of the GC100 is now "The Association of General Counsel and Company Secretaries of the FTSE100", although it will continue to be known as the GC100.