Many chief legal officers are managing functions beyond just legal, according to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey.
In addition to the legal department, 70 percent of respondents oversee at least two other areas like risk, compliance, privacy, and ethics. Fifty-eight percent reported that they were deeply involved in corporate transactions like mergers and acquisitions; 44 percent claimed that they impacted their organizations most significantly by advising the CEO and moulding business strategy.
“CLOs are key strategic business partners, their responsibilities beyond legal roles are growing, and they are assuming greater leadership across organizations. This is happening amid numerous internal and external challenges, such as a complex regulatory landscape, geopolitical instability, and mounting budget pressures,” ACC President and CEO Veta T. Richardson said in a statement.
CLOs’ concerns and focus areas for 2025
Regulatory investigation remains a usual concern for CLOs; for 43 percent, global regulatory change was a significant factor in the anticipated uptick in outside counsel use. Among big companies, the main regulatory concerns were related to antitrust (for 41 percent) and AI regulatory enforcement (for 26 percent).
Over 70 percent of respondents reporting that industry-specific enforcement was their biggest regulatory concern, while 37 percent said that labor and employment-related issues was the most significant. For 26 percent, it was third-party risk management enforcement.
Internal and external investigation expenses have risen for almost 30 percent of respondents. Forty-two percent reported an uptick in internal investigations, while 24 percent said external investigations increased for them. Sixty percent also reported that litigation costs had increased; 44 percent said litigation volume had gone up and over a third said litigation was more complex.
In addition, understaffing was the main concern for CLOs when it came to their legal departments, with 30 percent of respondents saying they intended to boost the number of lawyers hired for their organizations this year. This percentage rose to 50 percent among large companies.
To boost efficiency. 44 percent of CLOs said they planned to implement new technology, particularly technology geared towards contract management (62 percent), document management (32 percent), and workflow tools (26 percent).
“Over the past two years, legal departments have become much more sophisticated and targeted in their approach to technology. By understanding the importance of and investing in a combination of technology, expertise and process improvement, CLOs are seizing the opportunity to make an impact in their organizations during a time of immense change and rising risks,” said Sophie Ross, global CEO of FTI Technology.
The 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey was conducted by the ACC together with FTI Consulting, Inc. Respondents consisted of 772 CLOs in 48 countries and 20 industries.