What is the difference between chief legal counsel and general counsel?

Asked by: Sally Oberbrunner V  |  Last update: October 28, 2023
Score: 4.7/5 (49 votes)

While the Chief Legal Officer oversees legal strategies on a higher level, General Counsel offers more hands-on management, making decisions in the moment for legal matters like compliance regulations, contract review and negotiation, asset protection, and litigation.

What is higher than general counsel?

A CLO is the highest-ranking legal executive in an organization, reporting directly to the CEO or COO. Each CLO is responsible for overseeing all aspects of legal affairs, including: Compliance and risk management.

Who is chief legal counsel?

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.

What is the role of the chief legal counsel?

The CLO often keeps the company abreast of legal changes that affect the firm or their industry. Other CLO duties include establishing a curriculum to educate employees on legal matters, overseeing hiring practices, and litigating on behalf of the company.

Is general counsel part of the C-suite?

It is popular to use the C-suite type designations - partly to show the GC is a peer of the CFO, CIO, etc. Chief Legal Officer (CLO) is one of many possible appellations that might apply to a General Counsel.

The Evolving Relationship Between General Counsel and the Board

28 related questions found

What is the C level position?

This usually refers to high-ranking executives in charge or cochairman over various departments within their company and can include CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, etc. The term 'C level' comes from the word “chief” starting the job title.

Who is considered to be part of the C-suite?

The C-suite refers to a company's top management positions, where the "C" stands for "chief." Various chief officers (e.g., CEO, CIO, CFO, etc.) are the occupants of the C-suite. These individuals, while highly paid and influential managers, are still employees of the firm.

What are the four faces of the chief legal officer?

The role of today's chief legal officer (CLO) is complex, demanding much more than legal operations expertise. To be successful, a CLO must master and strike the right balance between “four faces”: Strategist, catalyst, guardian, and operator.

Is the attorney general the states chief legal counsel?

As chief legal officers of the states, commonwealths, District of Columbia, and territories of the United States, the role of an attorney general is to serve as counselor to state government agencies and legislatures, and as a representative of the public interest.

Can a company have two general counsels?

At many other companies, go one level down, and you may see additional “GCs.” This is because if a company has operating subsidiaries, it may designate the top legal officer for each of those operating subsidiaries as a General Counsel. It may also grant the GC title to legal heads of lines of businesses.

Who reports to Chief Legal Officer?

A general counsel may need to represent the company in court and during private legal matters. This role typically reports to the chief legal officer and people in this role may be promoted to chief legal officer. A CLO is more of a senior-level role.

Who is Capital One Chief Legal counsel?

Matthew Cooper is the General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Head of ESG at Capital One.

Why is it called general counsel?

General Counsel positions are highly sought after, and successful candidates in these roles are often those with the right mix of legal expertise and business savvy. A GC is a generalist by nature, as the “general” in the role implies, meaning they will have broad legal competence across several fields of law.

Is being general counsel hard?

The struggle is real. But there are ways to gain that experience prior to becoming a GC. One of the best ways to to develop the skills needed to be a general counsel is to seek out complex projects involving cross-functional issues AND that will give you exposure to senior management.

What is the difference between legal officer and legal counsel?

However generally speaking, General Counsels tend to focus on legal and compliance matters, whereas Chief Legal Officers typically have a broader range of responsibilities including legal, strategic and executive functions.

Is the president the boss of the attorney general?

The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States. Washington, D.C. Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, then appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.

What is the title given to the state's Chief Legal Officer?

Find your attorney general, the top legal officer in your state or territory.

Who is the highest legal officer?

Attorney General is the highest law officer in India. Article 76 of the Indian Constitution under its Part-V deals with the position of Attorney General of India. He is the chief legal advisor to the government of India and advises the union government on all legal matters.

Who is the highest legal officer in the United States?

As the nation's chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Garland leads the Justice Department's 115,000 employees, who work across the United States and in more than 50 countries worldwide.

What is the difference between a Chief Legal Officer and a chief compliance officer?

Legal counsel is primarily in charge of contract drafting, negotiation, and review; compliance handles violations of the Code of Conduct, policies and procedures, or other wrongdoing by those employed or engaged by the organization.

What position is below C-suite?

Employee Levels Below C-Suite:

V-level management: Vice Presidents (VPs) and Senior Vice Presidents (SVPs) who report to C-level management. D-level management: Directors in various departments (e.g., Director of Sales) who report to V-level management.

What is the difference between C-level and C-suite?

C-level, also called the C-suite, is a term used to describe high-ranking executive titles in an organization. The letter C, in this context, stands for "chief," as in chief executive officer and chief operating officer.

Why is it called C-level?

C-level corporate jobs are the top executive positions in a company. The jobs of these high-level managers are called “C-level” because of their typical titles usually begin with “C” for “Chief,” such as Chief Executive officer (CEO).