Q: How is the role of general counsel evolving, and how have you adapted?

A: The evolution requiring general counsel—and indeed the legal department overall—to proactively anticipate issues is well underway. This expectation is only increasing because of the evolving impact of new legal issues on business strategy, costs and operations, with privacy law as a great example. Beyond strictly legal topics, however, the general counsel is now often enlisted to manage or become a key player in the company’s process for mitigating risk more broadly. For me, the adaptation to this responsibility has been ongoing, and I now co-chair our company’s Enterprise Risk Management Program.