Just as no two businesses are identical, neither are any two in-house legal teams. And because the size and structure of in-house legal teams can vary significantly, the range of potential in-house legal job titles is wide.

While there are no set rules governing the detail of in-house job titles and reporting structures, there are a number of core functions which must always be carried out by any in-house legal team if they are to effectively serve the wider business. Some roles overlap and are used interchangeably.

Whether you’re an aspiring in-house legal professional, already work in-house, or lead an in-house legal function, being cognizant of the various ways that responsibilities can be distributed will help you to understand your own role, identify career progression opportunities, and consider the structures that might best suit your team as it scales over time.

Key job roles for in-house legal

There are a number of key job titles that can exist within an in-house legal team. Read on to learn about the most critical roles – along with the work that each one typically encompasses.

General Counsel (GC)

General Counsel (GC) usually occupies the most senior position in an in-house legal department. The overarching responsibility of a GC is to lead and manage the legal department while providing legal support to the broader business. As the authority for legal matters company-wide, the value a GC brings is defined by their leadership and ability to oversee all legal matters, including corporate compliance, data privacy, and litigation.

In smaller businesses which operate with a sole in-house lawyer, that person may be described as General Counsel. Some companies have a GC on their Board of Directors, while others opt for a different title or prefer to keep the head of legal separate from the board.

Chief Legal Officer

Chief Legal Officer (CLO) is a relatively new title within many in-house legal teams, but its usage is growing rapidly. If a business does not use the General Counsel title, it is likely to instate a CLO as the top-ranking legal role instead. The two in-house legal job titles of GC and CLO are often used interchangeably, but tangible differences can exist between them depending on the needs of the business.

Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) tend to have a broader role within a company – one which goes beyond managing legal work to include closer involvement with overall business interests. As a member of the C-suite, this executive position often forms a bridge between the legal department and the rest of the company.

This role is characterized by the strategic insights and business expertise a CLO brings to both the executive team and the business. CLOs and GCs alike may take responsibility for implementing strategic operational initiatives such as the adoption of legal operations software.

Larger businesses or enterprises may have a CLO and a GC, with the boundaries of each role depending on individual companies and industries. Duties may be delegated based on the CLO’s closer relationship with the board and the GC’s management of the legal team.

Deputy General Counsel

Deputy General Counsel is normally second in command to General Counsel. This role is usually present in larger companies where a regional legal team leader is necessary, or the GC has significant executive-level responsibilities. Deputy GCs act on behalf of the GC where necessary, and sometimes have specialized legal knowledge in areas such as intellectual property or other aspects of the business.

Associate and Assistant General Counsel

Associate General Counsel and Assistant General Counsel roles further delegate legal responsibilities to support General Counsel or the Chief Legal Officer. In some businesses, these roles are attached to specific departments as leaders; in others, they may function as individual lawyers. Associate and Assistant GCs generally handle the full scope of tasks an in-house legal department is assigned to daily, from legal research to litigation advice.

Some companies use both Associate and Assistant GCs as part of their in-house legal structure to establish a deeper hierarchy. Where this approach is chosen, Associate GCs occupy a more senior position than Assistant GCs.

Chief Compliance Officer

The Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) is one of several legal department positions that takes responsibility for specific legal matters. Although compliance is the responsibility of all in-house lawyers, companies with a CCO are typically larger and have greater regulatory considerations. In smaller companies, this role is often covered by the General Counsel, who oversees the ethical and legal aspects of wider business operations.

CCOs navigate potential liabilities and support areas of the law that represent risks to a company. In some cases, they may also develop policies around these and provide compliance training to employees.

Senior Legal Counsel

This in-house legal job title refers to team members who may supervise less experienced lawyers, or support head lawyers with specific fields of law. They may also bring their expertise to board executives for matters in which other legal staff lack experience, or oversee specific operational functions such as legal knowledge management.

Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel is a broad role that can refer both to relatively junior members of an in-house legal team and members with specialized knowledge. Also known as Corporate Counsel, this role is often an entry-level position which takes responsibility for assistance with everyday legal tasks.

Some Legal Counsel may have specific legal expertise, which this title reflects. For example, an Intellectual Property Legal Counsel would be responsible for navigating IP law and maintaining compliance in areas of copyright.

Legal Operations Manager

Legal operations (or legal ops) is an evolving function that these days exists in most in-house legal teams, albeit often without the specific label. Legal ops encompasses the people, processes and technologies involved in managing the operational, rather than purely legal, side of an in-house legal department.

While this function is often carried out by the GC in a sole practitioner or smaller team environment, larger teams are increasingly appointing a legal operations manager as a discrete role. In very mature teams operating at scale, there may even be a self-contained legal operations function with multiple roles.

Empowering in-house legal teams with a legal workspace

Although the specific legal job titles used in-house vary from company to company, the overall tasks and responsibilities to be carried out by the legal function are relatively consistent across the board.

However workloads are divided, it is important that everyone within an in-house legal team is working in sync, both among themselves and with the wider business. Legal technology plays an important role in helping to achieve this synergy, particularly if it encompasses every element of the legal function – for example, a consolidated platform or legal workspace.

Legal technology can be used to support every role within the in-house legal function. Whether it’s through providing a central system of record to keep everyone in the team on the same page, AI-powered features to help in-house counsel streamline workflows, or purpose-built dashboards to give GCs insight into department outcomes, the right legal tech solution can dramatically enhance your legal team’s operational capacity and ability to serve wider business objectives.

LawVu’s legal workspace is designed to connect all of your in-house legal workflows – all in one place. To learn more, request a demo with one of our experts today.