Demonstrating value is paramount for all in-house legal teams, concerned as it is with how legal work intersects with business objectives and strategy. When measured against the global data, firms in the Middle East reported that they demonstrated value mainly via the same two criteria as the rest of the world; through the commercial aspect of their advice and their risk mitigation abilities. However, the Middle East reported that commercial and business advice was the most important characteristic by a far larger margin than the average. In the Middle East, this was the most prized metric for measuring value added for 46% of respondents, as opposed to 38% in the global average. This implies that legal teams in the Middle East are more likely than average to be relied upon to contribute to the strategic direction of the company. This links in with Middle Eastern general counsel’s greater likelihood of being part of the management structure of their businesses, and shows that in-house legal professionals here are often more integrated with the business than the global norm.
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