Q: How is the role of general counsel evolving, and how have you adapted?
A: One recurring theme for our legal function is “doing more with less.” We see this in a macro sense in the decline of law school applicants in the past five years on the one hand, and on the other hand a doubling of the amount of data reviewed in discovery from 2014 and 2015. UBS’s Group General Counsel (GGC) has invested in several initiatives in response to these trends. One such initiative is an emphasis on “resource fluidity,” i.e., matching the internal demand for legal services to those across the entire function who are knowledgeable and available. This offers more flexibility and long- and short-term opportunities for employees and promotes a more diverse working environment, which in turn leads to more creative solutions to legal problems. It also forces each of us to think as stewards of the entire GGC function, providing the best legal support for the bank rather than as individual silos. Another initiative is focused on our technology strategy. We are looking at increasing opportunities and training to develop technology innovation that will help us do our jobs more efficiently so that we can focus our time and attention on providing the highest quality legal advice.
