Postcard from Germany
By J. Alberto Gonzalez-Pita the Executive Vice-President & General Counsel of HCP, Inc., headquartered in Long Beach, CA. Mr. Gonzalez-Pita is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel.
I recently had the great pleasure of attending the ACC Europe Annual Conference in Berlin. For three days, I attended practical and timely sessions that spoke to the increasing responsibilities of in-house counsel and the effective management of this role. The 300+ delegates came from some 29 countries.
The opening session featured Richard Susskind, author of “The End of Lawyers?” who talked about the future of the legal profession, which was quite entertaining. Thomas Werlen, general counsel, Novartis, joined him and focused on building the forward-thinking legal department. They reminded me of how far our profession has come and highlighted the challenges that remain, including those facing us now and those we will face in the foreseeable future:
- Pressure on head count and external spend;
- More legal work as a result of increasing regulation worldwide; and
- The delivery of more legal service at less cost — "more for less."
Susskind envisages a future of fast-paced technological change that will continue to have a profound impact on how lawyers work, and on those choosing to pursue a career in law. As knowledge systems and greater computer processing power reduce the need for pure legal experts — placing the emphasis firmly on legal process, project management and the standardization of legal products — law firms and legal departments need to work hard to keep up. This will ensure the survival of the role of the trusted advisor, running strategy, tactics and advocacy.
Sessions ran the gamut for the diverse attendees; they covered data privacy, anti-corruption, managing a small legal department, policies for dealing with social media, cloud computing and the effective use of technology. The main solution offered to the problem of not enough counsel to go around was to make better use of technology.
And throughout the conference was the thread of value: how the law department adds value, how to do more with less, and the complicated but important need for in-house lawyers and outside counsel to find ways to better work together.
The closing session featured a stellar cast of corporate counsel including Michael Wu, general counsel, Rossetta Stone; Leanne Geale, global legal services, Royal Dutch Shell; Bertrand Alexis, senior director, Qtel International; and Andrea Goodrich, associate general counsel, Tyco International. The esteemed counsel shared their best practices in managing their legal department and outside counsel relationships. And representing Norton Rose was Andrew Fleming, who inspired a frank and welcome discussion on how best to achieve a value-based relationship with your outside counsel.
Aside from the substantive sessions, highlights of the conference included the cocktail reception and gala dinner at the beautiful Orangerie at Schloss Charlottenburg. Standing on the terrace in the early evening –– glass in hand –– will live long in my memory.
It was great to meet our very engaged European members and to have the opportunity to restate ACC’s commitment to in-house counsel across Europe and beyond. I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to cross the pond.
See you next year in Amsterdam!
