Despite Era of Startling Demands and Distrust, Chief Legal Officers Still Content...

Despite Era of Startling Demands and Distrust, Chief Legal Officers Still Content with Their Roles

ACC's 8th Annual Chief Legal Officer Survey Reveals Overwhelming
Satisfaction with Careers
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
According to the results of the Association of Corporate Counsel's
(ACC) 8th Annual Chief Legal Officer Survey, 85 percent of Chief Legal
Officers found their careers to be rewarding and "welcomed
opportunities to expand their roles and the support they provided to
their clients." In spite of the increased scrutiny companies have been
under and shifts in responsibilities resulting from governance
reforms, only 30 percent revealed that these factors played a role in
future decision-making; while 59 percent indicated that the increased
scrutiny had a small influence on their overall career satisfaction,
noting a "healthy appetite for risk."

To provide benchmarks for further analysis, this year's survey
addressed a number of issues that were covered in previous years'
surveys, including the relationship with outside auditors, outside
counsel spending, company revenue, intentions to expand the legal
staff, and the type of legal work that would demand most of General
Counsel' time and resources. The findings from the 2007 survey tracked
very closely to the 2006 results, and where there were variances, they
were not startling.

When asked how they would characterize their relationship with
outside auditors over the past few years, a fraction of this year's
respondents indicated that there was a slight improvement in the
relationship with their outside auditors (16%), some said it had been
difficult (25%), but most indicated that the relationship remained
unchanged (59%).

"For auditors, the survey results can prove to be an effective
tool for strengthening the relationships with their corporate
clients," explained Frederick J. Krebs, ACC President. "The reasons
cited by some General Counsel who indicated that the relationship had
become more adversarial, had less to do with concerns about the
competencies or objectives of the auditors, but were more likely
attributed to perceptions about the respective roles and boundaries."

In light of the rise in corporate misconduct and failures, which
has spawned a wide array of complex laws, new regulations, and revised
standards governing corporate audits, Krebs notes that ACC recognizes
that cooperation between company lawyers and auditors can help both to
achieve the goal of properly fulfilling their professional
obligations. To improve and strengthen their working relationship, ACC
has invited auditors and in-house counsel facing challenges to work
towards the adoption of concrete measures.

"It is not surprising that perception, or in this case,
misperception, about respective roles and boundaries is a factor
attached to difficulties in the auditor/in-house counsel
relationship," Krebs says. "Compliance with the collections of rules
and regulations is a shared goal shared for those at the front lines
of the audit process. Although employed or engaged by the same
company, and sharing a common interest in appropriate financial
disclosure as required by securities laws, outside auditors and
in-house lawyers bring different perspectives to their roles and each
must meet different legal and regulatory requirements that apply to
their respective missions in the audit process. ACC is working hard to
help bridge that gap between the two."

The survey results also found that CLOs and General Counsel
continue to spend the majority of their time on corporate
transactional work (70%), followed by compliance (28%) and board
relations (21%). While compliance, governance and e-discovery are hot
topics, survey respondents indicated that records management would be
the next significant issue that General Counsel would tackle in 2008,
followed closely by staff recruiting, retention and training.

This year's responses indicated a slight increase in outside
counsel budgets, along with an increase in the total average annual
budget. Notably, there was a wide-range of law department budgets and
outside counsel spending. For example, some respondents indicated that
their average total law department budget was $50,000 and that their
outside counsel budget was around $10,000 annually. On the other end
of the budget spectrum, one respondent indicated that the outside
counsel budget was $500 million, with a total law department budget of
$750 million annually.

When asked what initiatives outside counsel could implement to
improve the relationship with their legal department, respondents
ranked alternative billing/flexible billing/e-Billing as the best
initiative, followed closely by offering seminars, training and CLE
sessions and providing updates on developments in applicable areas of
law. Conversely, in 2006, Seminars/Training/CLE was ranked highest,
while alternative billing options ranked third.

About ACC's 8th Annual Chief Legal Officer Survey

In late-October/Early-November 2007, ACC invited 5355 of its US
members holding the title of Chief Legal Officer (CLO) or General
Counsel (GC) to participate in the 8th Annual Chief Legal Officer
Survey The survey was open for a period of three weeks and 1166
responses were received. ACC has conducted the Chief Legal Officer
Survey annually in conjunction with its Annual Meeting since 2000.

About ACC

The Association of Corporate Counsel serves the professional needs
of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations and
private sector organizations worldwide by promoting the common
interests of its members, contributing to their continuing education,
and providing a voice on issues of national importance. With over
23,000 members in 80 countries, employed by over 10,000 organizations,
ACC's community connects members to the people and resources necessary
for both personal and professional growth. Visit ACC online at
www.acc.com. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel.(R)

To receive the Executive Summary/Complete Survey Report, please
contact Susan Jacobsen at (202) 349-1509 or jacobsen@acc.com.

Association of Corporate Counsel
Susan Jacobsen, 202-349-1509
jacobsen@acc.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008