In its 2023 GC Survey, Axiom asked general counsels how they perceived themselves in terms of their role as the company conscience. According to the results of that survey, an overwhelming majority of general counsels saw themselves as guardians of the company’s values. While it does appear that “corporal counsel as company conscience” is now a widely accepted belief among many general counsels, it is not held by all.
For some of us, the general counsel is not THE company conscience. The general counsel is merely ONE of many who serve as the company’s conscience. The responsibility for corporate conscience is not the responsibility of ONE. It is a responsibility shared by ALL.
As I see it, general counsel satisfies the responsibility by actively participating in company functions relating to leadership, training, reporting, and investigating along with other staff and business leaders.
- Leading: Senior administrators and managers are responsible for creating an ethical company culture:
- 1) by communicating expected ethical norms to employees;
- 2) by making all employees feel part of the company’s effort to create an ethical culture; and
- 3) by demonstrating ethical behavior.
- Training: Senior administrators and managers are responsible for:
- 1) training all company employees about the company’s ethics and compliance program; and
- 2) training all company employees on how to use a systematic approach to ensure ethical business decision making.
- Reporting: Senior administrators and managers are responsible for creating a process by which employees can report behavior they believe to be either unethical or unlawful without fear of retaliation.
- Investigating: Senior administrators and managers are responsible for fairly and impartially reviewing alleged unethical or unlawful activity and fairly taking appropriate action.
For the full article, check out the full article on Above the Law.
If you are a law school student or a even a lawyer who is relatively new to the practice of law, you may be surprised to know you have choices.
Lots of them.
When I went to law school, I thought I had a limited set of options when I graduated.
I thought I could either enter private practice with a firm or I could work as a public defender or a prosecutor. The thought of working at a company as an in-house lawyer never even crossed my mind.
Read MorePablo Picasso once said: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” As a junior lawyer in private practice, I was most comfortable when I could say firmly and with confidence, “This is the law, these are the facts, and, therefore, this is how I recommend that we proceed.” As a senior in-house lawyer, I learned very quickly that I did not have that luxury. I learned that I had to be flexible in my mindset.
Read MoreThe General Counsel position comes not only with great responsibility, but it also comes with great opportunity. As a General Counsel, you have an opportunity to impact your company in a way other executive-level leaders can’t because of the unique nature of your position.
Because you work closely with everyone in the company, you are often in a position where you can often bridge the gap between the managers and the managed.
How do you bridge that gap?
Read MoreTaking the time to develop a personal professional brand is something all professionals should consider doing and lawyers should be no different. In my experience, lawyers who work in private practice generally understand the importance of building a personal professional brand because it is so closely tied to business development and growing a successful law practice. Lawyers who work in-house, however, generally do not spend much time building a personal professional brand because they do not feel the same pressure as those lawyers in private practice. To the extent in-house lawyers put any energy into developing a brand, they often focus that energy on building the company brand. In-house lawyers who take this approach do so at their own peril. When the in-house employment ends, the in-house lawyer who has not taken the time to build a personal professional brand may struggle to find a new role because their identity has been tied only to a company for which they no longer work.
Read MoreOn March 11, 2020, I was on Spring Break preparing to return to campus when the President of my University issued the first of what would be many Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates to our campus community. In that announcement, the President informed the campus community that the Governor for the Commonwealth of Kentucky had just confirmed the existence of the Coronavirus in the Commonwealth and that the University was “closely monitoring the recent Coronavirus (COVID-19) news and its proximity and effects in the Commonwealth.” The President emphasized that the University’s top priority was now, and would continue to be, the health, safety and well-being of the campus community.
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