2025 State of the Corporate Law Department

Businesses are demanding more value from their in-house legal teams than ever before — but each department needs to define what value their company needs and how they can best support business activities in a challenging, rapidly changing environment. In the new 2025 State of the Corporate Law Department report, the Thomson Reuters Institute found that both business and legal priorities continue to shift rapidly, with a notable focus this year on controlling costs.

Informed by interviews with thousands of professionals worldwide, including legal leaders, C-suite executives, and compliance professionals, the report found:

• General counsel (GC) are concerned about delivering value 3 times as much as the previous year
• Cost control is a higher priority than ever, with more departments willing to go beyond the billable hour
• Regulatory compliance may be quieting down after several tumultuous years
• Top concerns of the C-suite include generative AI (GenAI), increasing volumes of data, geopolitical instability, and economic uncertainty
• Every department increasingly needs to align closely and regularly with its business to drive company priorities

Get your complimentary copy of the 2025 State of the Corporate Law Department report to receive:

• Key insights on how global departments are balancing the major pillars of corporate legal work, including effectiveness, cost-efficiency, enabling business growth, and risk management
• Evidence-led advice on how to optimise your department and its outputs
• Peer insights collated from other corporate legal departments and their executive leaders across the world to inspire innovation and transformational change