This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations.(February 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department.
In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their duties involve overseeing and identifying the legal issues in all departments and their interrelation, including engineering, design, marketing, sales, distribution, credit, finance, human resources and production, as well as corporate governance and business policy. This would naturally require in most cases reporting directly to the owner or CEO overseeing the very business on which the CLO is expected to be familiar with and advise on the most confidential level. This requires the CLO/general counsel to work closely with each of the other officers, and their departments, to appropriately be aware and advise.[1]
Historically, general counsel often handled administrative tasks while outside lawyers in private practice handled more complex legal work. Since the 1980s, however, the general counsel position has become increasingly prominent in multinational companies, often directly advising the board of directors in place of outside lawyers. General counsel are now often among the most highly paid executives of major American corporations, with many earning seven-figure or eight-figure compensation packages.[2] Prominent American government lawyers and law firm partners are often hired for general counsel roles at prominent companies. Similar trends are also being seen in the United Kingdom and other countries.[3]
General counsel often have broad roles encompassing crisis management, compliance reporting management and public policy advocacy. Many companies also hire in-house counsel to handle specialized tasks such as tax work, mergers and acquisitions, labor law and intellectual property, sometimes building in-house practice groups that rival the practices of major law firms.[3]
^The 2011 In-House Counsel Compensation Survey, Question 10,[1] Profiles of In-House Counsel 2006 [2] Who Does Your Counsel Report To? (2001) (The Majority Report to the CEO)[3]
^General Counsel Can Take Home Millions (But Will Still Endlessly Gripe About Your Bill!) [4]
^ abHeineman, Ben W. "General Counsel as Lawyer-Statesman" (PDF). Harvard Law School Program on the Legal Profession. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
A generalcounsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In...
The GeneralCounsel of the Department of the Navy is the senior civilian lawyer in the U.S. Department of the Navy and is the senior legal adviser to...
Look up counsel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly...
GeneralCounsel (French: Avocat général principal) is the chief public prosecutor at the federal level in Canada. The SGC leads an office of General Counsel...
The GeneralCounsel of the Army (also known as the Army GeneralCounsel, abbreviated AGC) is the chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Army...
The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser...
Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017. From 2009 to 2012, Johnson was the generalcounsel of the Department of Defense during the first years of the Obama administration...
The generalcounsel of the Department of Defense is the chief legal officer of the Department of Defense (DoD), advising both the Secretary and Deputy...
The GeneralCounsel of the Department of the Air Force (acronym SAF/GC) is the chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Air Force. By U.S. law...
five civil litigating divisions), generalcounsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and generalcounsel of the Department of Homeland Security...
government official who serves as GeneralCounsel at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). She previously was Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives for...
The Robert Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into 45th U.S. president Donald Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016...
The Office of GeneralCounsel provides legal and policy advice to the Secretary and other senior Departmental officials. The GeneralCounsel also is the...
The CounselGeneral for Wales is the Welsh Government's Law Officer (akin to the role of Attorney general in other jurisdictions using the Common law)...
In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially...
secretaries are mostly on Level III; and assistant secretaries, generalcounsels, inspectors general, chief financial officers, and chief information officers...
Bureau of Investigation's Enron Task Force. Weissman also served as the GeneralCounsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2011 to 2013. Starting...
corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel. The...
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British...
American lawyer and government official who has served as the sixth generalcounsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security since 2021. Originally...
office of special counsel. The current regulations were drafted by former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal. The independent counsel was an independent...
a barrister nominated by the Taoiseach to be the attorney general was not a senior counsel at the time, the government of the day has made them one first...
Kate Elizabeth Heinzelman is an American attorney serving as the generalcounsel of the Central Intelligence Agency. She was nominated by President Joe...
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning...
seeking immigration relief. The Office of GeneralCounsel (OGC) is the chief legal counsel of EOIR. The generalcounsel primarily provides legal guidance regarding...
Verizon Communications. He joined the FCC as a lawyer in its Office of GeneralCounsel in 2007. He was nominated to be a commissioner in 2011 by President...
are appointed for five-year terms and the generalcounsel is appointed for a four-year term. The generalcounsel acts as a prosecutor and the board acts...
Facilities and Security Office of Finance and Budget Office of the GeneralCounsel Office of Human Resources Office of Information Technology Office of...
Immigration Services Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans GeneralCounsel Deputy Under Secretary for Management Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs...
Global Information