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The Shift: The Pandemic is Accelerating the Expansion of the GC Role

General Counsel were already being asked to be part of strategic business decisions in the company before COVID-19. But the pandemic's massive upending of business operations, and implementation of new compliance requirements, has cemented the need for a GC to be an agile and innovative business driver.

That agility requirement has GCs leading many strategic conversations with the executive team on how best to balance employee safety, company reputation, legal and compliance risk and long-term company survival. GCs are implementing innovative initiatives that require working with teams across business units such as HR, real estate, operations, IT, finance, and supply teams. The difficulty around these decisions, however, is compounded for global operations, where the guidance and regulations may require different standards or may even conflict. As Judy Wong, Tricor's Group Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer shared with Corporate Counsel, "In today's changing regulatory and business environment, businesses always have to think about risk in new innovative ways, but COVID-19 just fast-tracked everything."