The Role of a Group General Counsel & Group Legal Counsel

A Group General Counsel (GGC), sometimes referred to as a Group Legal Counsel (GLC), is responsible for managing risk, ensuring compliance, and aligning legal operations with business objectives, all while navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

GGCs and GLCs operate across multiple business units or jurisdictions, requiring a broader strategic perspective. They drive efficiency, oversee legal technology adoption, and aim to prove their department’s value with concrete data.

But with growing workloads and limited resources, managing legal matters at scale is becoming a challenge. From legal matter management software to AI-powered legal analytics platforms, digital solutions are changing how GGCs and GLCs operate.  

Let’s break down their key responsibilities, the challenges they face, and how the right technology can help them scale their impact.

What Do Group General Counsels & Group Legal Counsels Do?

In many organizations, Group General Counsel (GGC) and Group Legal Counsel (GLC) are essentially the same role, with the titles used interchangeably. Both oversee legal risk, ensure compliance, and provide strategic legal guidance at a corporate level. However, in some companies (especially those with complex structures or multiple subsidiaries), these roles may have distinct responsibilities.

Group General Counsel Meaning

The Group General Counsel typically leads the legal function at a corporate or group level, setting legal policies, managing teams, and advising executives on high-level legal matters. They play a key role in shaping legal strategy, overseeing regulatory compliance across jurisdictions, and ensuring that legal operations align with business goals.

Group Legal Counsel Meaning

The Group Legal Counsel, in cases where the role is distinct, often works within a specific division or subsidiary. They handle the day-to-day legal matters of their assigned business unit while coordinating with the broader legal team. Their focus is on contracts, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution within their specific scope.

Both roles require a deep understanding of the business, strong leadership skills, and the ability to manage legal work across multiple regions.  

What Are Their Key Responsibilities?

The responsibilities of a Group General Counsel and Group Legal Counsel extends beyond traditional legal advisory. They play a strategic role in shaping corporate policy, overseeing legal operations, and driving efficiency across multiple jurisdictions.

1. Overseeing Corporate Legal Strategy and Risk Management

GGCs and GLCs ensure that the company’s legal strategy aligns with its business goals. They assess potential risks, provide guidance on regulatory matters, and develop policies to minimize exposure to legal issues.

2. Managing Regulatory Compliance Across Multiple Jurisdictions

With companies operating across different regions, compliance is a moving target. These legal leaders monitor evolving laws, implement internal controls, and ensure that business practices adhere to local and international regulations.

3. Handling Corporate Transactions, Contracts, and Litigation

From negotiating high-value contracts to managing mergers and acquisitions, GGCs and GLCs are responsible for key legal transactions. They also oversee dispute resolution, whether through litigation, arbitration, or settlements, to protect the company’s interests.

4. Supervising Internal Legal Teams and Outside Counsel

As legal work expands, these leaders manage in-house legal teams and external law firms. They allocate resources, set priorities, and ensure that legal matters are handled efficiently.

5. Demonstrating Legal’s Value Through Data and Analytics

Legal teams are increasingly expected to provide measurable insights into their performance. GGCs and GLCs use legal analytics software with visualization platforms to track workload, risk trends, and operational efficiency, helping them justify budgets and prove their strategic value to leadership.

6. Ensuring Legal Operations Run Efficiently

Beyond legal advice, GGCs and GLCs are responsible for streamlining legal workflows. Many are turning to legal matter management software and general counsel software to automate intake, centralize case tracking, and eliminate inefficiencies.

What Challenges Do They Face?

A Group General Counsel and Group Legal Counsel must navigate growing workloads, fragmented legal processes, and increasing pressure to prove their value, all while managing risk and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.  

Some of the main challenges faced by GGCs and GLCs include:

• High workloads, limited resources: Legal teams are expected to handle more matters with fewer resources, making efficiency a top priority.

• Lack of visibility over decentralized work: Without a single source of truth, tracking legal matters across business units and regions is difficult.

• Complex and evolving regulations: Constant regulatory changes require legal teams to stay agile and ensure compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

• Difficulty communicating legal’s value: Leadership expects legal teams to demonstrate their impact, but without legal analytics software, measuring performance is challenging.

• Inefficiencies in manual processes: Relying on emails and spreadsheets slows down workflows, creates bottlenecks, and increases the risk of errors.

With these challenges mounting, legal technology (especially legal matter management software and AI-driven automation) has become essential for scaling legal operations.

How Can Technology Help in These Roles?

To keep up with increasing demands, Group General Counsels and Group Legal Counsels are turning to technology to streamline workflows, enhance visibility, and demonstrate their impact. Modern legal tools improve efficiency, reduce manual work, and provide data-driven insights that help legal teams operate at scale.

• Centralizing legal work with matter management software: A legal matter management software system consolidates all legal matters, documents, and communications in one place, eliminating silos and improving visibility.

• Gaining insights with legal analytics software: Using legal analytics software with a visualization platform, legal leaders can track workload, monitor risks, and generate reports that showcase their team’s value.

• Automating repetitive tasks: AI-powered general counsel software automates routine processes like legal intake, approvals, and document management, freeing up legal teams for higher-value work.

• Improving compliance and risk management: Technology helps legal teams stay ahead of regulatory changes by providing real-time tracking, automated alerts, and standardized workflows for compliance management.

• Enhancing collaboration across business units: A centralized platform ensures that legal teams, internal clients, and external counsel can work together efficiently with shared access to matters, contracts, and updates.

By leveraging technology, GGCs and GLCs can not only manage legal work more effectively but also position legal as a strategic enabler of business growth.

How Will AI and Automation Shape Their Future?

AI and automation are helping Group General Counsels and Group Legal Counsels cut manual work, make smarter decisions, and scale legal operations. And as businesses demand faster, data-driven legal support, these technologies are becoming essential.

AI-powered general counsel software streamlines legal intake and triage, ultimately eliminating bottlenecks. Contract review tools use AI to scan agreements, flag risks, and suggest edits, reducing review time while improving accuracy. Legal analytics software with a visualization platform goes a step further, turning raw data into insights that help legal teams spot risks, forecast trends, and stay ahead of compliance issues.

Automation also tackles workflow inefficiencies by handling approvals, matter tracking, and compliance monitoring, freeing legal teams from repetitive tasks. AI-driven reporting tools provide real-time performance metrics, helping legal leaders prove their team’s impact with hard data.

So, the takeaway from this is that AI is giving general counsels the tools to work smarter, reduce costs, and prove their value to the business more effectively than before.  

How Can Checkbox Empower a Group General Counsel & Group Legal Counsel?

Checkbox is a legal-specific software solution that helps in-house legal teams streamline legal operations, automate manual work, and prove their team’s value, without adding extra complexity.

Key Benefits of Checkbox for GGCs and GLCs:

• Single Source of Truth: Centralizes all legal matters, requests, and documents in one platform for complete visibility.

• AI-Powered Intake & Reporting: Automates request management, categorizes legal issues, and provides real-time tracking.

• Legal Analytics & Visualization: Delivers insights into workloads, trends, and team performance with customizable reports.

• No-Code Workflow Automation: Allows legal teams to build and modify processes without IT support, from approvals to contract review.

• Scalability Without Extra Headcount: Reduces administrative work so legal teams can focus on high-value strategic initiatives.

For GGCs and GLCs looking to replace outdated manual processes, Checkbox transforms legal operations, making them faster, smarter, and more efficient.

Want to learn more about how Checkbox can help your team scale and improve legal ops? Book a call with one of our technology consultants today.