The drive for sustainable business practices is boosting the status of in-house counsel within their companies, a new report by Bond Dickinson has shown.
In-house counsel now play a more strategic role due to the many legislative changes, regulatory reforms and renewed emphasis on risk avoidance against a backdrop of corporate collapses, bailouts, scandals and tarnished reputations. Consequently, their remit is expanding and they are advising on ethical as well as legal issues.
The report, Beyond Responsibility: The emerging role of legal counsel in sustainable business, found that more than seven out of ten in-house counsel said increased focus on sustainability has had a “major” or “measurable” impact on their operations, and one third of these have seen formal changes to their roles and responsibilities as a result.
More than one quarter have factored sustainability goals or values into their legal advice, or integrated sustainable business issues into legal processes, while 35% have advised on legal issues relating specifically to corporate sustainability projects and initiatives.
According to the report, the biggest shift in attitudes towards sustainable business over the next five years is expected to be driven by the “carrot” of market forces rather than the “stick” of legal requirements, as customer and shareholder demand for businesses to demonstrate sustainable business practice in an increasingly transparent world grows.
Victor Tettmar, executive partner at Bond Dickinson, says: “As questions of sustainability have risen up the corporate agenda, many in-house lawyers have been instrumental by virtue of the fact that significant drivers have been legal or regulatory.
“But the issue is shifting from a question of whether we can or can’t do something to a question of whether we should or shouldn’t do it, as businesses realise that sustainability and commerciality are intertwined. In-house lawyers remain ideally positioned to influence or even lead their companies’ sustainability agenda as it becomes more business-driven, because they provide consultation across the full range of business operations.
“As a result, boards are increasingly looking to their legal advisers to contribute at a strategic level, and sustainability is proving a legitimate career development path for senior lawyers looking to develop their roles within the in-house structure.”
