THOMSONREUTERSINSTITUTE
2024Stateofthe
CorporateLawDepartment
Mappingapathtostrategicleadership
2024StateoftheCorporateLawDepartment2
Executivesummary
Theresponsibilitiesoflawdepartmentsfallrelativelywellintofourkeyareasoffocus:
EffectivelyadvisingEfficientlyoperating
thebusinesstheirfunctions
ProtectingthebusinessEnablingthegrowth
fromriskofthebusiness
Aslawdepartmentslooktoevolvetheirrolesintheseareas,theyarealsoseekingtoredefine
themselvesawayfrombeingperceivedascostcentersandtowardsapositionasstrategic
leaderswithinthebroaderenterprise.
Todothis,theymustbalancetheirkeyareasoffocusandshifthowtheytellthestoryoftheir
contributiontothebusiness.Allofthismustalsobedoneinalignmentwithexpectations
fromtheC-Suite—insomecases,thatmeanschanginghowthedepartmentoperatesto
beinalignmentwithleadership’sexpectations;inothercases,itmeansinfluencingcompany
leadershiptoseethelawdepartmentinadifferentlight.
Thisreportexploreseachofthesekeyfocusareasforcorporatelawdepartments,providing
currentbenchmarksfordepartmentperformanceaswellasinsightsintoC-Suiteexpectations
aroundareasthattheywouldliketosee