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Regulation seen as biggest challenge for Aussie law departments
Relative to the rest of the world, Australian corporate counsel see industry-specific regulation as being the primary hurdle to overcome this year, among other divergences from global counsel on looming challenges.
Jerome Doraisamy
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) has released its 2021 Chief Legal Officers Survey, which received responses from 947 participants across 44 countries and 21 industries. The report, published in partnership with Exterro, showcased insights into the state of the corporate legal department, including organisational structure, pressing concerns for in-house lawyers, and trends of note following COVID-19.
When asked about the issues that are most likely to cause legal challenges for one’s business or organisation, 60.6 per cent of corporate counsel around the world identified industry-specific regulations, in line with findings from 2020.
However, when broken down by region, clear disparities emerge. In Australia and New Zealand, 69.4 per cent of corporate counsel see such regulations as being an issue likely to present challenges for the law department.
There are other issues on which counsel in Australia diverge from their global counterparts.
Worldwide, 14.8 per cent of corporate counsel see climate/environmental concerns as being a key challenge, but in Australia and New Zealand, more than one in five (21 per cent) are worried about its impact upon the department. Moreover, almost two in five (38.7 per cent) of ANZ counsel have their eyes on challenges pertaining to mergers and acquisitions, compared to 32.1 per cent of counsel globally.
Interestingly, ANZ counsel are much less concerned about taxation as a challenge for the law department relative to their global counterparts (14.5 per cent compared to 22.5 per cent). Even more stark is the comparison on tariffs and other trade-related issues – 18.2 per cent of counsel around the world are concerned about this, in contrast to just 4.8 per cent in Australia and New Zealand.
On other issues, however, corporate counsel in Australia are in step with those overseas.
Just over half of all counsel see data protection privacy rules as being an issue that will present challenges (53.6 per cent globally, 51.6 per cent in Australia), two in five are keeping an eye on political changes (38 per cent globally and in Australia), and 12 per cent – both globally and in Australia – are worried about antitrust and competition enforcement.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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