From Fractured to Fractional – Support and Staffing Solutions for Post-Pandemic Corporate Legal Departments

In the Fall 2021 issue of the Association of Corporate Counsel - Georgia Newsletter, Gray McCalley provides insights into support and staffing solutions for post-pandemic corporate legal departments. 

The pandemic has at least disrupted, if not fundamentally altered, the internal, organizational dynamics of business. Corporate legal departments are not immune.

"Perhaps the Legal Function has already fallen victim to staff reductions or furloughs," said McCalley, adding that, "At the very least, routines have been fractured." 

Whether and how effectively legal support can be delivered has become all the more important in light of the aggressive regulatory moves of the Biden Administration (from antitrust to employment law) as well as burgeoning changes at the state level (privacy laws, activist State Attorneys General).

McCalley expressed that not many FY ‘21 legal budgets foresaw this regulatory tsunami. With the continuing uncertainties around the impact of the Delta variant and the earlier-mentioned commercial dislocations, GCs in FY ’22 are not likely to experience budgetary largesse or achieve increases in headcount. To the contrary, as in 2008 and the years following, legal departments are going to have to do more with less.

GCs are beginning to feel that they are in a vise as they must obtain, with fewer resources, the practical, business-relevant legal advice that their companies need.

"Fortunately, innovative service models have recently emerged that could go a long way in helping to address this situation," said McCalley.

To read the full article, please click here. It appears on page 5.