FTI releases The General Counsel Report, identifying key priorities and drivers of legal departments

FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) and global technology company Relativity announced findings from part one of The General Counsel Report 2025. The study found that 85 per cent of general counsel expect corporate risk and demand on the legal department to increase at an accelerating rate in the year ahead. This expectation is combined with a reported increase in the overall volume of disputes and investigations, which is now considered a top five risk for 51 per cent of general counsel and a leading driver for increased costs.

This sixth annual edition of the report is based on findings from one-on-one interviews between Ari Kaplan Advisors and chief legal officers at large corporations around the world, as well as a quantitative survey of more than 200 general counsel in a dozen countries. Together, the two data pools examined the current state of global corporate legal functions and year-over-year analysis of developing trends. Alongside the reported uptick in risks surrounding disputes and investigations, regulatory compliance topped the list of concerns among legal department leaders, with 41 per cent ranking it as the number one risk. Additionally, 32 per cent said the frequency of disputes and civil litigation is also increasing.

Data challenges have continued to complicate the mix of issues facing general counsel. When asked about the risks of emerging data sources such as collaboration applications, linked content and cloud productivity platforms, 88 per cent of general counsel interviewed said they are concerned, with 59 per cent classifying their concern as high or extreme. More than half (57 per cent) have experienced new compliance challenges related to emerging data sources and 65 per cent said they are minimally prepared or not prepared at all to handle issues related to emerging data sources.

“General counsel continue to amplify their role as a guardian of data, risk, incident response, and increasingly, company strategy,” said Sophie Ross, global CEO of FTI Technology. “Through an increasing openness to technology, a focus on business objectives and reliance on strategic expert partners, most general counsel have struck a realistic balance between absorbing increased risk and fueling growth within their organizations. Given the current fluidity across business, technology and regulatory environments, general counsel will need to maintain this careful balance and prioritize adaptability across the evolving landscape of data-driven challenges.”

Key findings covered in part one of The General Counsel Report 2025 include:

• Half said the cost of disputes and investigations has grown, with some attributing the increase to more complexity, more data and stricter regulations.
• The percentage of general counsel who consider regulatory compliance to be their number one risk increased by 11 percentage points from the prior year’s report to 41 per cent.
• When asked which regulations they are following closely in the year ahead, general counsel were most focused on privacy regulation in jurisdictions outside the United States (44 per cent), the EU AI Act (35 per cent) and other AI regulation in jurisdictions outside the United States (35 per cent).
• Data privacy continues to be considered a leading risk overall, and 61 per cent of general counsel indicated data privacy takes up the most time from the legal department, while 58 per cent said incident response matters such as data breaches take up the most time.
• More than one-third said internal investigations are the top trigger for all their disputes and investigations activity and 25 per cent cited whistleblowers as a leading factor.
• More than 75 per cent said they are addressing widening risks through increased reliance on law firms, compared to 63 per cent in the 2024 report.

“Not surprisingly, with new governments in the UK and the United States, we saw a substantial increase in chief legal officers reporting regulatory compliance as a major risk in this year’s sixth annual edition of The General Counsel Report,” said David Horrigan, Discovery counsel and legal education director at Relativity. “Data privacy and data protection lead the way as regulatory risks, and, in the era of rapid change, an overwhelming majority predict risk to increase at an even faster rate.”

The General Counsel Report 2025 is available for download here. Part two will be released in March 2025.