Many government agencies or corporate offices have a team of lawyers, and the person who is head of all these lawyers is the general counsel; to know more about this position, read the general counsel job description. The lawyers have to report to the general counsel and they oversee all the legal cases that the team is fighting.
Government agencies, corporate offices, non-governmental organizations and other such places have teams of lawyers. The organizational structure of these places is large and they have many legal matters that go on. Hence, they have many lawyers working for them at a time. These lawyers work on their payroll as it is lot more cost effective than hiring a firm. A general counsel who is a senior lawyer with good credentials is hired to head the team of lawyers.
General Counsels have vast amounts of experience. The associate counsel and lawyers seek their advice on the cases they are facing or any other legal matter. The general counsel will then guide them on their query. Any big cases the organization may face is handled by the general counsel themselves. They have access to all the papers present in the company, as they may have to make use of these papers in the cases.
General Counsels can go through all the cases that are with them and assign them to their subordinates according to their capabilities. They keep a close follow up on all the cases. They can decide to provide additional help to any lawyer or they can even reassign the case to someone else. The general counsels also speak to the media on behalf of the company and address all their questions.
The general counsels review all the rules and regulation of the company and ensure that all of them are legal. They even take a close look at the taxes that are paid by the company, and their calculation structure. They are also aware of all the transactions that take place in the company and they have access to the account books. However, a general counsel does a lot more, to know it all, read the general counsel job description.
Duties and Responsibilities of a General Counsel
General Counsels are senior lawyers and they have many years of experience. One has to get the best of education to be to be eligible for this post. Also, this post requires really good management skills.
Academic Requirements for the position of a General counsel
Career Advancement
The position of a general counsel is one of the highest positions a lawyer can attain. They can find higher paying jobs in large multinational companies.
The general counsel job description is to ensure that all the dealings in the company are legal. Their job is very important for a company to have a reputation.