Legal today is more than legal matters, actions, and contracts. Today’s legal organization has to respond to incident/breach reporting and notification laws in a timely and compliant manner, respond to Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR), harmonize and monitor retention and other privacy obligations, conduct e-discovery, manage legal holds on data, and continuously monitor regulations and legislation and apply them to a business context.

The role of the General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer looks very different these days than even just 10 years ago—having gone from a position of largely exclusively providing legal expertise to now playing a key role in business strategy and overseeing a much broader scope of responsibilities.

Managing the complexity of business from a legal perspective while keeping continuous business and legal change in sync is a significant challenge for boards, executives, as well as the legal professionals in the legal department. Organizations need an integrated strategy, process, information, and technology architecture to govern legal, meet legal commitments, and manage legal uncertainty and risk in a way that is efficient, effective, and agile.

This study of chief legal officers and general counsel builds on responses from 947 participants in organizations spanning 20 industries and 44 countries. The survey showcases a need for a comprehensive data management strategy led by Legal, leveraging a Legal GRC approach.