A new article in Corporate Counsel speaks to the growing use of the term "Chief Legal Officer" by large organizations to denote the senior legal officer, and to reflect the role of that officer as a "business partner" with the members of the executive leadership team. The article reflected the perspectives of several legal search professionals.
The concept of the "CLO" is relatively new and, as a result, it does not appear to carry with it any broadly accepted definition. Experience suggests that the title is used to bestow greater authority and greater organizational prominence.
To date, the title "CLO" seems most often used with companies that are multi-jurisdictional and/or multi-departmental in scope, with many subsidiaries and perhaps several regional or business division general counsel. It is a position that essentially is intended in some circumstances to incorporate those additional duties of business strategy partner and ethics counselor that knowledgeable observers now attribute to the modern general counsel.
To avoid confusion, it is important that one officer—be it the CLO or the GC—is designated as the head of the corporate legal department and is thus responsible for the legal affairs of the entire corporation. To the extent that the CLO participates in substantial business and strategy discussions, clarity should be added to what portion of her advice is subject to the attorney-client privilege.
Defining "Chief Legal Officer"
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