What is a Chief Legal Officer?

A chief legal officer also known as a general counsel is the highest legal position in a public traded company. Chief Legal Officer (CLO) is mandated to ensure that legal risks of the company are minimized. He or she does this by giving legal advice to board members and company officers, especially on litigation risks. CLO takes care of all the company's legal matters, and he or she reports to the Chief Executive Officer.

What Does a Chief Legal Officer Do?

Basically, a CLO takes charge of legal matters in the company. Different organizations have different roles as far as this position is concerned. However, the major roles are to inform the executive team on emerging law changes. This includes both new and pre-existing laws that may affect the company's business operations. It is also the duty of the CLO to take employees through a curriculum program on business legal matters.

Chief Legal Officer Responsibilities

The responsibilities of a CLO vary depending on the structure of an organization. However, below are the typical responsibilities of a chief legal officer:  

• Providing legal advice

  It is the duty of the CLO to brief the company's staff on potential liabilities, legal issues and possible courses of action. The briefing can be through oral or written means. He or she has an obligation of translating complicated legal terms so that employees can understand. The recommendations made by the CLO should be in line with the existing law. Also, the recommendations should aim at minimizing legal risks in the company.

• Processing documents

Legal work involves a lot of paperwork. The CLO has a responsibility of ensuring that all the legal paperwork are dealt with. He or she will be required to write and review the following:

• Settlement documents
• Agreements
• Contracts
• Stock certificates

The four tasks are essential and make up a better part of CLOs daily duties. This requires him or her to have focus and accurate when working on the documents.

• Conducting Research

It is the work of the CLO to carry out research on legal matters on behalf of the company. This is to ensure that the company matches the emerging changes in the legal field. The legal research can be on codes, statutes, judicial decisions, among other things. The research also helps the CLO to make informed recommendations on legal issues.

• Identifying Risks

It is also the duty of the CLO to ensure that the company does not get itself into any legal problems. The officer is, therefore, required to analyze the company's actions and decisions before their implementation. This will enable the CLO to identify areas with risks and suggest ways of minimizing them.

• Directing Staff

For any legal problem in the company, the CLO takes charge of it until the problem is solved. He may personally handle the problem or delegate it to an attorney to ensure that the problem is solved.

• Chief Legal Officers Education and Qualifications

To qualify for the position of a chief legal officer, you need to have a law degree. You are also expected to have significant experience working as an attorney. In general, competent CLOs should have knowledge of legal matters and the company's business.

Chief Legal Officer Key Competencies and Skills

The following are key skills that a chief legal officer should possess to be able to execute his or her duties effectively:

• Being able to communicate effectively (both verbal and written)
• Should have exceptional leadership skills
• Being attentive when analyzing issues
• Should have exceptional negotiation skills
• Knowledgeable when it comes to preparing legal documents including complicated ones.
• Should have outstanding skills for solving problems
• Should have good analytical skills

Related Topics

• Corporate Governance Law (Intro)
• What is Business Governance?
• Berle-Means Thesis 
• Corporate Governance Rating Definition
• Who are the members of a corporation?
• Corporate Charter
• Shareholder Register
• Common Stock
• Preferred Stock
• Par Value
• Authorized Shares
• Issued Shares of Stock
• Unissued Shares of Stock
• Outstanding Shares
• Institutional Shares
• Dual Class Shares
• What is a closely-held corporation?
• Close Corporation Plan Definition
• What is a Private Company vs a Public Company?
• What is the role and purpose of the corporation?
• What is the Agency theory of corporate governance?
• Shareholder-Centric Perspective
• Shareholder Value
• What is the Stakeholder theory of corporate governance?
  
• What is the role & rights of Shareholders in the corporation?
  
• Shareholder Democracy Definition
• Quorum Definition
• Information Circular
• Straight and Cumulative Voting
• Statutory (Straight)
  
• Cumulative Voting
• Plurality Voting
• Class Voting Shareholders
• Changing the Voting Rules
• Supermajority (Voting)
• Shareholder Sponsored Proposal 
• What are the variations on attributes of Ownership structure?
• Stock Split
• What are the fiduciary duties owed by shareholders?
• When is a shareholder personally liable for corporate obligations?
• Appraisal Rights
• Dissenter's Rights
• Say on Pay Rights
• How can shareholder enforce their rights (direct and derivative actions)?
• Amotion
• What is the process for bringing a Derivative action?
• What are corporate vote Proxies?
• Proxy Statement
• Proxy Fight or Contest Definition & Explanation 
• What is Shareholder Activism and the significance of Institutional Investors?
• Activist Investor
• Overview of Board of Directors
• Board Decision Making
• Advisory Board (Observer Directors)
• What is the role of the Board of Directors?
• Board of Trustees
• Board of Governors
• What is the composition of the board of directors?
• Chairman of the Board
• CEO as Chairman of the Board
• Inside Director
  
• Outside Director
• Outside Director or Non-Executive Director Definition
• Independent Outside Director
• Budget Committee
• Audit Committee
• Compensation Committee
• Nomination Committee (Corporate Board)
• What standards govern the actions of the board of directors?
• Duty of Candor Definition
• Duty of Care (Board of Directors)
• Duty of Loyalty (Directors) 
• Self-Dealing
• Board Evaluation Definition
• What is the Business Judgment Rule?
• What is D&O insurance?
• Codetermination (Foreign)
• What is the role of Managers of the corporation?
• What standards govern manager actions?
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Information Officer (CIO)
• Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
• Chief Legal Officer
• Chief Operating Officer
• Chief Risk Officer
• Chief Security Officer
• Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
• What are the primary state and federal corporate governance laws?
• What is the role of the state in corporate governance?
• What is the role of Securities Laws in corporate governance?
• What is the role of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in corporate governance?
• What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) effect on corporate governance?
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
• What is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act effect on corporate governance?
• Corporate Monitors
• What industry organization standards affect corporate governance?
• How do proxy advisory firms affect corporate governance?
• What is the role of ethics in corporate governance?
• What are the major causes of corporate governance issues?
• What are the access to information issues?
• What are decision-making structure issues?
• What are the power struggle or competition issues?
• Holding Company
• What are hostile takeovers and defenses to hostile takeovers?
• Williams Act
• Staggered Board
• Shark Repellent Defenses?
• Poison Pill Defenses?
• Flip Over Poison Pill Definition
• Flip In Poison Pill Definition
  
• Voting Poison Pill Plan
• Delay-Tactic Defenses?
• Legal Lockup Defenses?
• White Knight and Pac Man Defenses?
• Jonestown Defense
• Lady Macbeth Strategy
• Macaroni Defense
• Yellow Knight
• Back-end Plan Definition
• Backflip Takeover Definition
• Dead Hand Provision Definition
• Kamikaze Defense
• Operating Company Property Company Model
• Whitemail
• Scorched Earth Policy Definition
• Revlon Rule
• What are benefit-alignment issues?
• Cadbury Rules Definition