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Allstate’s Law Department Optimizes Business Needs Through its Legal Risk Management Process
Insights from Mick McCabe, Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, The Allstate Corporation
Allstate takes a holistic approach to managing legal
risks, and its law department is a key part of the overall process.
Allstate’s in-house lawyers are at the ‘front-end’ of the legal risk
management and assessment process, and are described by Mick McCabe,
Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer for The Allstate
Corporation, as “expeditors and facilitators within the confines of
acceptable risk parameters rather than thwarts to business innovation.”
“By moving our lawyers from the back-end of the process to the
front-end, we’ve transformed lawyers from a necessary evil to valued
project partners. Having lawyers involved on the front-end enables
lawyers to deeply understand what the business is trying to
accomplish and enables business personnel to understand up-front the
risks. The result is more enlightened decision-making, and decisions
which optimize business needs and minimize the risks,” explains McCabe.
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ACC’s Advocacy to Protect Privilege Succeeds in the House of Representatives
ACC's steadfast efforts pay off: On November 13, 2007, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved H.R. 3013, the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2007. The bill is pending (S. 186) in the Senate; we hope action will be taken early in the new year. For more information on this and other privilege-related resources, please visit the ACC Attorney-Client Privilege Page.
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ACC Advocacy Actions to Fight for Professional Privilege in the EU
ACC, with pro bono support from lawyers at Covington & Burling, filed an intervention in the Akzo case in support of extending legal professional privilege to in-house lawyers, and strongly believes the European Court missed an important opportunity to recognize the increased status and role of in-house lawyers in today's commercial world and to modernize the concept of legal professional privilege. ACC intends to file a brief in the appeal on this case before the European Court of Justice. For more on the Akzo case and related ACC initiatives, see ACC’s advocacy web page on Professional Privilege in the EU.
•ACC Analysis of the Akzo Case
•ACC Piece on Akzo Going Forward: Practical Thoughts for Consideration
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ACC’s Blue Ribbon Panel on the Relationship Between Lawyers & Auditors
ACC convened a working group examining lawyer-auditor relationships. Led by ACC Board Member, Tom Sabatino, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Schering-Plough Corporation, the group includes top CLOs and leaders from audit firms. Two roundtable discussion sessions were held in late summer/early fall, and ACC’s Interim Report and a substantial listing of additional resources may be found at ACC’s new Auditor and In-House Counsel Web Page. Stay tuned… ACC intends to dive further into the issues identified as ripe for further action in 2008.
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ACC’s CLO ThinkTanks: Access Executive Reports & Briefing Materials
ACC’s CLO ThinkTank materials now online include:
•Enterprise Risk Management for the Insurance Industry (NEW)
•Establishing and Sustaining an Ethical Culture in a Global Organization (NEW)
•Corporate Business Information Management—E-discovery and Beyond
•Navigating the Complexities of C-Suite Relationships
Access additional ACC CLO ThinkTank via ACC’s CLO ThinkTank web page.
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