The Legal Department: From Business Enabler to Business Creator

“Legal still needs to earn the right to exist.” Those were a senior Capgemini executive’s introductory words in his speech at the 2013 Group Legal Forum. Beyond the provocative tone, this challenge has been an ongoing driver of the Capgemini’s Legal function. It is increasingly necessary that legal departments demonstrate their value to the company, lest they be seen as a mere cost center and be treated as such. Legal has often times been dubbed the “sales prevention team” by allegedly being too risk-adverse, appearing as a hindrance to the sales executives’ desire of a quick closing or occasionally viewed as a scapegoat for lost bids. It is critical to change this perception so internal clients realize that Legal is not only protecting the company’s interests but also is a “sales and profit enhancing team.” The modern legal department must reinvent itself and change the rules of the game through innovation, being proactive with its internal and external clients, and demonstrating that it can be a business creator and not merely an enabler. Bringing business discipline to the legal department has been the ambition of the Capgemini Group’s General Counsel and her teams for the last 19 years, and in November 2015 it led to Capgemini’s legal department receiving four Trophy awards (“Trophées du Droit”) at the in-house legal team contest organized by the French magazine “Directeur Juridique & Financier”. This annual event rewards professional and innovative legal departments in France, gathering the most important members of the French legal community. These awards, related to transactions, innovation, contract management, and best international legal team, reflect the Capgemini legal department’s accomplishments and the hard work and contributions made by all legal team members over the years in France and abroad.