We live and operate in an era underpinned by complexity. Technology permeates society we no longer go on the internet; we live on the internet. Artificial intelligence or robotic process automation has been touted as the next business game changer. Regulation is on the rise. Change is the only constant in business. Disruption is the new normal. The transformation of the Finance, HR and IT industries started in the mid-90s. These are classic back end functions which have now been elevated in status and expressly part of the C-suite. Comparatively, it’s fair to say that the legal profession as a whole is lagging behind in terms of its transformation. Yet the godfather ii of in-house Ben W Heineman Jr advances that the role and value of in-house counsel has significantly transformed, in fact undergone a revolution, in both responsibility iii and status over the past 25 years. Regardless of which part of the legal profession is leading the transformation lag, to borrow a phrase from the Australian High Court in an iconic intellectual iv property case from 1959, things are getting “excitingly unpredictable” in the legal marketplace. A marketplace which is worth some AUD$11billion v to the Australian economy, and $800billion globally. 18
Indeed in the present economy, practising law is no longer black and white. It is not even grey anymore. Today, we are practising law in full colour. Globally, it is becoming the new normal for General Counsel (GC) to wear multiple hats; that is, to have direct responsibility for functions beyond “just" Legal. On the one side, many GCs are also executives, and on the other, counsel the CEO and Board of Directors. Company reputations are vulnerable to a completely new set of crises: social media, terrorism, geopolitics, and cyber risk just to name a few. Ergo the role of the lawyer is becoming more and more business critical, but also less clear cut. The business of lawyering has become far more complex. In this landscape, while the steadfast duties of a lawyer proclaimed under oath remain unchanged, the currency of old school lawyering is in flux. The value of bedside manner is going up in the face of a highly competitive and client driven market. In Australia in the early to mid-2000s there was a stigma around law firm secondments. They were typically reserved only for those solicitors who were overtly practical rather than purely technical (and therefore not ear marked as high potentials for the partnership track). Now