The majority of general counsel were ready for remote work, ACC finds

According to the results of a survey released by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a vast majority of general counsel (68%) said their legal departments were prepared for the transition to working from home during the Covid-19 outbreak. The survey invited 5,000 ACC members at random to participate and was open March 25-29. The results are based on a total of 277 valid responses.

«The responses illustrate law departments’ ability to transition to work from home and carry out their day-to-day functions in order to help their organizations adjust to this new business environment», ACC writes. Indeed, just under 27% reported that their department was ‘somewhat prepared’ and only around 5% admit being unprepared for the transition to teleworking.

«In-house lawyers possess the necessary skill set and knowledge to best guide companies through volatile business landscapes and unpredictable times», said Veta T. Richardson, ACC president and CEO. «It’s not surprising that under their leadership, law departments continue to carry out their functions while helping organizations adapt to this new normal».

The results also show that a majority of legal departments are assessing and advising business leaders on risks associated with new supplier relationships (64%) and are participating in contingency planning (63%). Under half of legal departments are either renegotiating (47%) or negotiating new contracts (41%).

When it comes to labor and employment issues, just over 54% reported that while work volume had risen due to Covid-19, they had no plans to change policies or procedures. Just over 31% reported no change in procedures or in work volume, and about 15 % reported that they were either outsourcing more work or looking into other external services.

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