In-House Counsel, Legal Operations

The Legal Chief Of Staff: A Critical Role For General Counsel’s Success

What is a legal chief of staff? And is this function here to stay?

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With ever-growing pressure to integrate in-house legal departments into the businesses they serve, we are seeing significant growth in the corporate legal operations (CLO) field. These legal operations professionals — many of whom are not attorneys — are taking on greater responsibility and are increasingly shaping corporate legal departments. And more and more, general counsels, especially of mid-size and large legal departments, are hiring legal chiefs of staff to help run their teams.

So, what is a legal chief of staff? And is this function here to stay? The short answer is “likely yes.”

The legal chief of staff is often the member of the general counsel’s senior leadership team charged with strategic thinking and planning. Though each legal chief of staff role varies, they generally manage a wide range of responsibilities to support the legal, compliance, ethics, or security operations of a business. She is often a trusted advisor who leads with regard to vision, mission, and execution. She also often oversees strategic priorities, tracks key performance indicators (KPIs), operates budget team culture, and manages communication.

“As the general counsel position evolves, so does the chief of staff position,” says Colin McCarthy, Legal Operations Analyst, Twitter, Inc.  He explains, “As the right hand to the general counsel, the chief of staff is increasingly called upon to have an applied understanding of the current legal landscape and be a champion for advancements in legal operations.  This involves using data to make smart decisions and fostering strong partnerships with finance and technology staff to develop a roadmap for the future of the legal department.” 

The legal chief of staff often facilitates internal and external meetings of the CLO’s executive leadership team, including monthly, quarterly, or annual legal all-hands meetings. She may oversee a variety of special projects, including investigations or technology integrations, staff management, and other logistical operations. In some companies, she may even be highly involved in board meetings, as many general counsels also serve as secretary of their company’s board.

McCarthy explains, “Prioritizing legal operations is important for the chief of staff position.” According to him, “Introducing tools, processes, and automation to the legal department helps make business more efficient and nimble. Tools like contract management systems, knowledge management, matter management/e-billing, and dashboards all add great value to the legal department. The information/reporting that is collected from these tools helps to inform the chief of staff/general counsel to make data-driven decisions around hiring, diversity, support, business impact, and growth.”

Depending on her role, the legal chief of staff may be an attorney, though she does not have to be one. While her legal knowledge and understanding of legal processes would likely be an asset, other skills — being organized, efficient in project management, a strong communicator, cross-functional, demonstrating emotional intelligence, financially literate, or comfortable with technology — are at least as important as legal experience or knowledge.

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In reviewing various recent and past legal chief of staff job descriptions, I have noted, above all, variety. Ultimately, the seniority, status, and responsibilities of the legal chief of staff tend to vary by general counsel and legal department. It is not unusual for the legal chief of staff to compensate for general counsel’s lack of expertise in certain areas, such as in departmental financial planning, the use of technology, or other strategic skills. At its core, the role of the legal chief of staff is to do what is necessary to make the stars align for the legal department and general counsel.

What do you think? Is the legal chief of staff role just a passing trend? Or is it here to stay? Will it help create more effective and efficient legal departments? 

Olga V. Mack is an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to serve on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw to prepare women in-house attorneys become general counsel and legal leaders and WISE to help women law firm partners become rainmakers. She embraces the current disruption to the legal profession. Olga loves this change and is dedicated to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and inclusive than before. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack.

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