The increased prevalence and impact of cyber threats is forcing general counsels to grow into a strategic leadership role in terms of organizational management of data risks; so says the 2021 edition of the “General Counsel Report” from data management firm Relativity and business advisory firm FTI Consulting.
General counsels have switched focus from looking for reasons to cut cybersecurity budgets to taking a leadership role in implementing plans to mitigate an ever-growing field of data risks and their potential costs. The majority of those surveyed currently see privacy and data security as the primary area of legal risk, and for the first time a majority of respondents also feel that attorneys have adequate technical proficiency.
Pandemic pushes expansion of the duties of general counsels
The survey included a broad range of annual revenues, employee counts and industries. The methodology is also unique in that a representative personally interviewed the general counsels at each of the respondent organizations.
These interviews were conducted in August and September of this year, and the general finding is that the pandemic has been a strong…
