Separating the grim legal reality from the fairy tale

The number of qualified lawyers being recruited to work in-house has grown exponentially over the last 10 years.

Although, traditionally, the role was viewed as a saving on the costs associated with external legal advisers, it is increasingly recognised that the real value of an in-house lawyer is to speed up decision making, increase management options and reduce legal risk.

This increased demand for in-house lawyers is set to continue for the foreseeable future in light of increasing regulation that obliges organisations to review their legal risk and imposes severe sanctions, not only on the organisation itself, but also on individual directors.