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How GCs can prepare for Trump’s regulatory changes
Ahead of the second Trump presidency, there are numerous steps that general counsel whose businesses deal in or with the United States should be taking, says one research and advisory firm.
Jerome Doraisamy
Law departments, Gartner argued towards the end of last year, need to anticipate the risks and opportunities pertaining to new government policy and actions that lie ahead, to better support their business’s exposure and subsequent responses.
GCs, Gartner said, need to take three actions to plan for regulatory upheaval once Donald Trump assumes office for the second time. The growing volume and complexity of regulatory agendas worldwide, it detailed in a statement, have increased concern about how regulatory change will impact corporate strategy for years to come.
In June of last year, Lawyers Weekly reported on what a Trump re-election might mean for Australian data and privacy lawyers, and in September, this brand reported on Gartner’s suggested preparation for regulatory shifts ahead of the November election.
Legal teams, Gartner legal and compliance director of research Laura Cohn said, “should start mapping out government policy changes now to better prepare for risks and opportunities that will impact the organisation”.
“By assessing the organisation’s exposure and response to significant changes and determining if early action is warranted, GC can help the business focus its scenario-planning efforts,” she said.
Gartner suggested three steps that must be taken by GCs whose businesses work within, or deal with, the United States.
Firstly, it outlined, GCs must map out government policy changes to anticipate risks and opportunities.
“GCs should help senior leaders and the board determine the most business-critical regulations and policies. They should also identify where there’s a likely and significant difference between the new and old administrations,” Gartner said.
“GCs should also determine which major regulations and policies might change and assess the impact. Especially so, given that regulatory uncertainty in the US has intensified even before the election due to a series of Supreme Court decisions.”
Secondly, they should determine the level of exposure and response required by the business.
GCs should, Gartner went on, work with business and functional stakeholders to identify risk and exposure to changing regulations and create a response.
“The GC can conduct an informal assessment to determine if early action is needed,” it said.
“GC and stakeholders should determine whether to take early action on a disruption. For example, they can assess how quickly they could respond to a disruption, or how much of an impact the disruption would be on their organisation.”
Finally, law department leaders should watch out for new agency and cabinet appointments in the US government.
This is necessary, Gartner explained, “appointments to get an early read on what the regulatory environment could look like under the new administration, especially for departments that have been critical to the business”.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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