Despite GC appointments bouncing back after a dismal April, high-profile in-house legal department cuts may leave some in-house attorneys uneasy.

However, lawyers with a data privacy or cybersecurity background should take some solace in the growing in-house need for attorneys with their experience. As all companies' risk expands with the enactment of new privacy regulations, the amount of lawyers with expertise in the budding space isn't keeping up with demand, recruiters and industry observers say.

Although the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect May 25, 2018, John Gilmore, co-founder and managing partner of in-house counsel headhunter BarkerGilmore, has only seen a recent uptick in companies' data privacy awareness in the last 18 months.