Photo Credit: Bigstock
There's a new innovative trend among global general counsel. It's not about technology or transformation but also delivers significant value. Legal leaders are taking a fresh approach to advocacy at a time when company ethics and their positions on today's issues affect performance and reputation. These innovative general counsel are advocating on important issues for their organization's stakeholders, with a far broader scope than legal. Above and beyond helping to build and sustain compliance with laws and regulation, the corporate legal chiefs whose examples are shared here are building reputation and brand value. They are gaining ground with their company's employees, customers, investors and regulators, as well as with the media and other influencers. |

Growing Effect of Ethics on Reputation, Stakeholder Relationships

The rainbow of issues today spans climate change, “Me Too,” gender pay parity, immigration restrictions, animal rights, gun control, human trafficking, LGBTQ and much more. In Washington this spring, my global counsel leaders group discussed the new advocacy opportunity for legal leaders and the rise of ethics in affecting corporate reputation and relationships with regulators and other stakeholders. In June I moderated a similar session at ALM's Transatlantic General Counsel Summit in London. While each general counsel has a distinctive approach based on individual experience and the corporation itself, three aspects of the new general counsel advocacy are consistent: 1) They select a theme of great relevance to the company. 2) The C-suite, and often board of directors, is involved and recognizes the general counsel's contribution. 3) The new advocacy uses a range of nontechnical legal abilities that global companies increasingly value in their general counsel. It starts with communications skill and includes business acumen, creativity, influence, agility and gravitas. These five examples share five general counsel perspectives, each with its distinct elements: Peter Beshar, EVP and general counsel, Marsh & McLennan Cos. Marsh & McLennan Cos. is a U.S.-headquartered global professional services firm in risk, strategy and people. Its 2017 revenue was over $14 billion. “Ben Heineman, the longtime GC of GE, was fond of saying that one of the best things that a general counsel can do is serve as a public advocate for the corporation. I have taken that advice very much to heart. If we can find a way to contribute on the most complex societal challenges of our times, it will, one way or the other, redound to the benefit of our company. Take an issue like cybersecurity. Government and industry need to do a better job of collaborating by sharing the latest forms of threat intelligence. To help reinforce that message, the FBI's cyber lead in New York and I regularly join forces to speak to business and government audiences. This basic dynamic exists on an array of other issues like providing for retirement security for an aging population or enhancing our collective resilience against natural catastrophes.” David Fein, group general counsel, Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered is a FTSE 100 global financial institution headquartered in London. “The role of a general counsel is changing. We are increasingly relied upon to understand the commercial challenges to the business and to act as a partner and not just a guardian. Shortly after joining Standard Chartered, I made ;fighting financial crime; a key personal priority, alongside the bank's institutional commitment. I sponsored the creation of an online communications platform that brought together some of the forward-looking activities already underway in the bank to fight financial crime. I have also been working with NGOs, law enforcement authorities and our peers to consider how we can develop collaborative models for discovering and disrupting financial crime. The business has been very appreciative—these initiatives are evolving the internal and external focus beyond strictly compliance to include also how we can more effectively and efficiently make the financial system a hostile environment for money laundering and terrorist financing.” Sarah Jones, group general counsel, BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is the British public service broadcaster, via television, radio and the internet. Sarah Jones got her biggest lesson in restoring trust during an organizational crisis involving a highly publicized, historic child sex-abuse case. Jones explained, “My role involved managing an external investigation lead by a former Court of Appeal judge; running a compensation scheme for survivors; and supporting culture change across the organization to ensure individuals are encouraged and empowered to call out concerns. This was necessary to deliver accountability, transparency and restore trust.” Like Jones, many other general counsel advocates see building trust with diverse stakeholders as high among their current priorities. Hugh Welsh, DSM North America president, general counsel for North America and Africa DSM is a Netherlands-headquartered global science-based company in nutrition, health and sustainable living. Its 2017 revenues were roughly $10 billion. “DSM focuses on finding solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges in areas like climate change and nutrition. Our legal, M&A, commercial, R&D, innovation and even talent acquisition/development activities are aligned with this strategic mission/vision. As a consequence, the business case behind developing an external engagement strategy with stakeholders like government, media, NGOs and others is pretty clear. I actively advocate on issues like climate change, nutrition, application of the circular economy, and inclusion and diversity.” “I believe that DSM's CEO and senior leadership appreciate my ability to tell DSM's story in a fairly eloquent and engaging way,” Walsh said. “They appreciate that it has an impact. We've expanded our influence with key stakeholders to orders of magnitude greater than you would typically see in B2B companies [of] our size. DSM's 21,000 employees really like seeing DSM named No. 2 on Fortune 's Companies ' Changing the World 2017' list, ahead of companies like Apple, Google, etc; or being a finalist for Fast Company 's ' Ideas Changing the World .' ” Philip Bramwell, group general counsel, BAE Systems BAE Systems is a U.K.-headquartered global defense, security and aerospace company. Its 2017 revenues were roughly $25 billion. “At a time when BAE Systems was under intense scrutiny from regulators and other stakeholders, the board took the decision to commission a report (chaired by Lord Woolf) providing guidance as to how BAE could best establish a global reputation for ethical business conduct that matched its reputation for outstanding technical competence. A decade on, after implementing all 23 recommendations of the Woolf Report, BAE Systems operates at every level according to the principles and standards recommended in the report.” “General counsel play a critical role in advising boards on setting standards for responsible business conduct and creating effective internal control systems that enable large corporations to live up to those standards. Getting the reality right is key to building or rebuilding a corporation's reputation in the eyes of its many stakeholders. Ensuring that the focus on meeting behavioral standards remains at a constant high and is a core part of our role, especially as new generations of staff join a business.” E. Leigh Dance works with global corporate legal and compliance leaders and their teams as they improve and transform. She is executive director of Global Counsel Leaders Circle, a membership group. Dance is grateful to the general counsel that generously shared comments for this article, four of whom were speakers at the ALM Transatlantic General Counsel Summit.