“Legal can’t be a ‘business prevention department’.”

An interview with Christopher Fischer, Group Head of Legal Affairs and General Secretary at DenizBank AG in Austria.

What are the biggest external forces or trends currently shaping your role as General Counsel and how are you responding to them?

The pressure to do more with less. As a shared service, the legal function is almost always a cost centre. Organisations are always looking to minimise costs and a legal department rarely grows in line with the business, but rather is behind in terms of additional resources, introduction of technology and skills training. In response, I focus on what is possible and communicate clearly both in my team as well as with my clients to maintain transparency. In terms of technology, I seek to piggy-back on company-wide initiatives and outside counsel is often a good source of free or reasonably priced training.

How are you balancing the increasing demands of legal risk management with the expectation to drive business value and strategic insight?

Legal can’t be a “business prevention department”. In many respects, legal risk is not simply black or white, but a spectrum of lighter and darker hues of legal risk. Therefore, it is important to understand the organisation’s risk appetite and be able to operate within those confines. Understanding an organisation’s risk appetite involves engagement with the business and also understanding the “numbers” that drive the business and your internal clients. With that understanding legal counsel can drive value if the communication is clear and transparent.

What’s one lesson or insight from your in-house journey that you wish you’d known earlier and would share with a fellow GC today?

Ignoring an issue will not make it easier to handle in the future. Being risk averse can’t lead to avoiding a “personal risk” by hiding bad news or ignoring an issue. The sooner you share the news or the issue with someone, the easier it is to remediate.