Hans Albers.

Cybersecurity, privacy and attorney-client privilege rank as some of the major concerns for general counsel in Europe these days, according to Hans Albers, the recently elected president of the European Association of Corporate Counsel.

An ACC board member for three years, Albers serves as the global head of legal operations and chief of staff to the general counsel of California-based Juniper Networks Inc., which makes software, routers and other networking products. He has worked in Juniper's international headquarters in Amsterdam for more than seven years.

Albers previously worked at tech company Cisco Systems Inc. for 11 years, including as head of its commercial legal team for the U.S. and Canada while he was based in San Francisco.

Corporate Counsel talked with Albers on Wednesday about his ACC presidency, his insights into legal issues in Europe and his job in the rapidly changing legal ops field. Here are excerpts from that conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.

Corporate Counsel: First, congratulations on your new position as president of ACC in Europe. How many European in-house lawyers are members, and what does your role entail?

Hans Albers: There are 2,500 members in Europe. My goal is to continue to roll out strategy to deliver real value-added services to our members across Europe. That means helping the board define what's needed by in-house counsel to be successful in their careers, giving counsel access to information and networking, and making sure we plan meaningful events such as our annual conference.

We also make connections to other lawyer associations across Europe, like the Law Society in the U.K., and next month we have an event in Brussels where all representatives of all in-house organizations in the EU will convene.

How difficult is it to be based in Europe while working for a U.S. corporation?

It has its challenges. Obviously the time zone challenge is one—for example, I am nine hours ahead of my company's headquarters. But the more important aspect, and this is true for most European lawyers who work for a U.S. corporation, [is that] there is sometimes a cultural difference in how we look at legal issues.

I've worked in the U.S. for companies. We in Europe tend to misunderstand how complex the U.S. legal system is. It's not just one system; it is 50 different markets with different laws.

For another thing, the U.S. is more litigious. The cost of litigation in the U.S. is astronomical compared with other countries. And that influences [your evaluation] of risk. You also need to appreciate the differences in perspective of how you look at a business issue, or a legal issue. It's often slightly different.

For a lawyer working for an international company in Europe, a group like ACC can help you talk to other European lawyers who work for U.S. companies to better understand an issue, and how they would approach it.

What do you see as some of the biggest legal challenges to in-house counsel in Europe today?

It's not shocking—the challenges around managing the increase in regulations like the GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] and other laws. Sometimes there's a lack of harmonization in Europe, and each country can have its own interpretation of the law.

Privacy will remain a hot topic, and a challenge for every business. It's not easy to figure out how you apply certain measures, or what processes are needed. It can be quite daunting. I think the GDPR is being taken very seriously by U.S. companies, like Google and Facebook.

Another challenge everyone faces is fear of a data breach, of your systems being hacked. This is not just a legal issue. Protection of privacy and data involves all departments in the company, and the board. It's a topic that will continue to dominate headlines for a long time to come.

What about attorney-client privilege? Isn't that an issue in Europe?

Yes, ACC has been very vocal in courts about the lack of attorney-client privilege for in-house lawyers in most EU countries. Generally in-house lawyers in the EU are not members of the bar, unlike in the U.S. This poses a complicated situation if, like me, you work in the EU for a U.S. company. I don't have legal privilege here, but under U.S. law I do there.

Obviously it's a very strange disconnect for an international global business. We have been working hard with other organizations to raise this issue with regulators and authorities. We have a working group in ACC driving that agenda.

What is your favorite thing about being an in-house counsel?

I would say it's probably the ability it gives you in the front lines of the business, working hand- in-hand to enable the business to be successful and avoid problems before they arise. That proactive element of it. Whether a commercial deal or M&A, the in-house position gives you a chance to be really close to the decision-makers, even for junior lawyers. Whereas in a law firm, that is completely different.

What is your least favorite thing about being in-house?

Administrative stuff, and I can pin it down to the task of having to review the invoices of outside counsel. It's complicated and not exciting, but you need to do it to make sure you are getting value for the money. But I've never seen anyone say, “Oh I love this!”

As head of legal operations for your company, how do you see legal departments changing to meet future challenges?

The U.S. is definitely far ahead of Europe in this respect, with more talk of legal operations and efficiencies and resources, probably because the cost of legal is higher there. We're just beginning to see it coming across the pond.

Pretty much every large organization is talking about how we can best leverage technology and use tools. There are a lot more tools now. When I worked at Cisco 20 years ago we had to invent them ourselves. There are so many providers now, even law firms and the Big Four accounting firms are offering them. The legal ops function is a quickly growing group.

Do you have any advice for an in-house counsel who wants to become head of legal operations one day?

First of all, you need to have a passion for being a change agent in your law department. You have to be interested in process and technology, and show the willingness to think about how services can be delivered in a different way.

You need to seek change because you think there are better ways to do the work, especially the boring stuff. And you need to learn new skills like project management or IT or budgeting, and to stay close to new trends in the market, like the blockchain and AI. If you are only interested in real legal work, not the process, then this is not a career for you.