The General Counsel is a dynamic corporate position that increasingly reports directly to the company CEO and shareholders. Recent technological advances have allowed the position to evolve further. Today, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), routine tasks can be automated, enabling general counsels to assume greater strategic and leadership responsibilities.

What Is the Role of General Counsel in Corporate Law?

Responsibilities of the General Counsel in corporate law are multifaceted and require senior-level experience and expertise. Common tasks associated with the position include: 

• Providing strategic legal advice to company executives. 
• Reviewing and negotiating legal contracts. 
• Staying current on new laws and compliance issues with existing laws.
• Managing intellectual property and preventing infringement.
• Managing legal experts and directing them to achieve the best outcome.
• Overseeing the function of the business compared to negotiated contract terms.
• Tracking contract adherence and assessing legal risk.
• Formulating a strategy to deal with litigation and representing the business in court.

How Is the Role of General Counsel Changing?

In the past, the General Counsel advised corporate departments about potential legal risks and oversaw contract reviews; however, they rarely played an instrumental role in executive-level decision-making. Today, executives are leaning more heavily on general counsel. While general counsel serves as a valued internal partner, there is also pressure to measure business value, improve performance, and reduce costs. It’s not unusual for general counsel to actively participate in strategic sessions or serve as board members.

Streamlining General Counsel Responsibilities Through AI Technology

Automation and technology have become increasingly crucial to the role of general counsel. Advanced technologies like AI have allowed corporate legal departments to automate routine legal work like contract review, negotiation, risk analysis, and legal associate training. As a result, general counsels at these tech-forward legal departments experience far fewer contract escalations requiring their review. 

An AI-powered contract review platform offers: 

• Freedom from human error - The AI compares current contracts to an AI Digital Playbook and past agreements to locate errors and omissions. In many cases, the AI will autocorrect mistakes. For more complex or higher risk provisions, the AI can escalate the redlined contract to general counsel. 
  
  
• Enhanced consistency - The AI analyzes uploaded contracts according to company playbook standards and a series of negotiating parameters to ensure the agreement reflects preferred company positions.
  
  
• Faster contract review - A manual review process could take several business days to review—or even weeks for a new trainee or overwhelmed staff. Alternatively, AI can fully assess, redline, and deliver context-based revision suggestions in less than five minutes.  

Imagine:

• A 99% reduction in contract negotiation playbook training time.
• A 90% reduction in contract review time.
• A 33% reduction in total time to contract execution.

LexCheck applies patented, first-of-its-kind contract review technology. While some software attempts to perform redlining and evaluate risk, LexCheck delivers by assessing agreements like a seasoned attorney and escalating contracts when high-risk clauses remain after the AI performs its automated review.