When legal department leaders are looking to the future to plan next year's budget, they expect to contend with some cloudiness inside the crystal ball. But what lies ahead seems darker and more unpredictable than ever. And it's enough to make even some of the most experienced general counsel anxious.

"There's always that worry about the unexpected. But now we don't even know if people will be back to working on a normal schedule. We don't know whether business will be coming back as usual," said Susan Hackett, CEO of law practice management consulting agency Legal Executive Leadership in Chevy Chase, Maryland.