The Association of Corporate Counsel has released a member flash poll on how legal departments are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic on matters ranging from working remotely to coping with supply chain disruptions.

About 68% of respondents felt their departments were "very well prepared" to transition to remote work during the coronavirus crisis, and just under 27% reported that their departments were "somewhat prepared," according to the poll of 5,000 randomly selected members, from which they received 277 valid responses.

Slightly more than 54% reported that work volume had risen as a result of COVID-19 in labor and employment matters, but just over 31% reported no change in work procedures or volume on labor and employment matters. About 10.5% said they were outsourcing more work or looking into other external services.

"I would have expected that lawyers were well prepared, but I was pleased to see how very well prepared law departments reported being," said Veta T. Richardson, ACC president and CEO, in an interview Friday. It was "a nice surprise was how well supported they were with their information technology needs, and law departments were largely very well prepared to work from home.

"It's a great sign because of the essential role that they provide to their companies. My feeling is that whether looking at supply chain challenges, or force majeure clauses in contracts, or advising on employment issues general counsel stand ready to support their companies through these very challenging times," she added.

Other survey findings included:

• Supply chain: About 64% said that their legal departments were advising business leaders on risks associated with new supplier relationships and 63% were participating in contingency planning for potential failures and gaps in the supply chain. Approximately 47% were engaging in renegotiating contracts, 31.5% were engaged in enforcing or litigating breaches of contracts in the supply chain, and 15.2% were reviewing or procuring new insurance policies.

• Labor and employment: More than half of respondents, at 54.1%, said there was more work but no change in the mix of external and internal resources, and clarifications and revisions to policies and procedures were being handled as before. Roughly 31% said no significant changes were being made to policies and procedures. Around 10% said they were outsourcing more work than before to existing outside law firms, and 4.3% said they were looking for new external resources for advice.

Richardson said the nearly one-third of respondents who indicated there were no big changes being made to policies and procedures could be because general counsel are involved in drafting business interruption and contingency plans, which would have been activated, and "it may be that their policies didn't require extensive adjustment."

"A seat at the executive table for the general counsel and CLO is essential as well as in the boardroom," Richardson said. "One of the things we are seeing is that general counsel will be playing a role in taking many public companies meetings virtual during the annual meeting seasons. General counsel are rolling up their sleeves and working with their C-suite colleagues to host the annual meetings and it may be virtual for the first time at many companies. General counsel remain an essential player."

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