Seven core competencies every modern GC needs in North America

The role of the general counsel (GC) in North America has shifted from legal advisor to business leader.

Today’s GC sits at the intersection of risk, strategy, and execution. They are expected not only to interpret the law, but to shape decisions, influence outcomes, and help organizations move faster with greater confidence. As regulatory pressure increases, AI adoption accelerates, and stakeholder scrutiny intensifies, the role continues to expand in both scope and impact.

From legal advisor to embedded business partner

The modern GC is most effective when involved early. Rather than reviewing decisions after they have been made, they work alongside the executive team to structure transactions, assess trade-offs, and guide direction from the outset.

This is particularly visible in moments that define growth and value creation. Whether entering new markets, executing acquisitions, or restructuring operations, GCs are expected to identify legal and regulatory constraints early, propose viable routes forward, and enable progress without exposing the business to unnecessary risk.

In practice, this means translating legal complexity into clear options: not just outlining what cannot be done, but setting out what can be achieved, under what conditions, and at what level of risk.

Commercial judgment and decision support

Commercial acumen is what differentiates strong GCs from purely technical lawyers.

Organizations are looking for legal leaders who understand how the business makes money, where margins are under pressure, and how decisions affect growth, cost, and risk exposure. This allows GCs to calibrate their advice accordingly.

For example, in a fast-moving deal environment, the GC must weigh legal precision against speed and competitive pressure. This balance is increasingly front of mind for organizations navigating in-house legal hiring, where candidates are assessed as much for judgment as for technical credentials.

The value lies in perspective, not just analysis.

Proactive risk leadership

Risk management is no longer reactive or siloed. It is continuous, interconnected, and increasingly business-critical.

Modern GCs are expected to anticipate risk, not just respond to it. This includes tracking regulatory change, assessing geopolitical exposure, and evaluating how emerging technologies introduce new vulnerabilities.

Importantly, their role extends beyond identifying risk to coordinating response. Working across functions such as compliance, IT, HR, and finance, the GC ensures that mitigation strategies are aligned and executable.

In many organizations, the GC has become the central point of visibility across legal and regulatory risk.

Leading and scaling the legal function

As expectations increase, so does the need for a legal function that can operate efficiently and flexibly.

Modern GCs are responsible for how legal work is delivered. This includes structuring teams to align with business priorities, managing capacity, and deciding what work should remain in-house versus what is outsourced.

This becomes particularly important for companies thinking about how to hire a GC, where the brief often extends beyond legal expertise to building and shaping a function that can scale with the business.

Leadership also extends to developing talent within the team.

Retention, capability building and clear progression pathways are increasingly important in a competitive market.

Operational effectiveness and legal delivery

Efficiency is now a core expectation.

The GC is expected to bring discipline to how legal services are delivered, introducing processes, technology, and data to improve visibility and control. This can include implementing contract lifecycle management tools, standardizing documentation and using automation to reduce manual workload.

The focus is not simply cost reduction, but consistency and scalability. A well-run legal function delivers faster turnaround, clearer reporting, and stronger alignment with business timelines.
This operational capability is also reshaping US legal recruitment, where organizations are increasingly prioritizing candidates who can demonstrate measurable impact on delivery and performance.

Technology, AI, and data

Technology is reshaping both the volume and nature of legal work.
The modern GC is expected to understand where tools such as generative AI, automation, and data analytics can improve delivery. This includes streamlining routine tasks, identifying risk patterns, and providing better insight to the business.

At the same time, they must oversee the risks created by these technologies, particularly around data privacy, security and governance.

The role is therefore twofold: enabling smarter ways of working while maintaining appropriate oversight.

Governance, ESG and stakeholder expectations

Expectations around governance and corporate responsibility continue to rise.

GCs play a central role in advising boards on governance frameworks, regulatory obligations, and stakeholder expectations. This includes supporting ESG initiatives, ensuring disclosures are accurate, and helping the organization navigate areas where legal and reputational risk overlap.

Their influence at board level has grown accordingly, reflecting the breadth of their oversight across risk and compliance.

What this means for hiring general counsel in North America

For organizations, the shift is clear. Technical excellence remains essential, but it is no longer sufficient on its own.

Findings from the 2025 EY Law General Counsel Study show that while many in-house legal teams are rethinking their sourcing strategies, a significant proportion still struggle to secure the expertise they need across multiple jurisdictions. Companies are prioritizing GCs who can operate as part of the executive team, influence commercial decisions, and build legal functions that support growth. Assessment is increasingly focused on judgment, leadership, and the ability to translate legal complexity into business action.

For legal professionals, progression to GC or CLO level depends on developing a broader skill set that combines legal expertise with commercial awareness and operational capability.

Ultimately, the modern GC is defined by impact: how effectively they guide decisions, manage risk, and position the legal function as a driver of business value.