Cisco Legal Services

Cisco Legal is a global multidisciplinary team of lawyers. We provide legal solutions to help Cisco develop innovative technologies for customers around the world. What hasn`t changed is the need to focus on business results. The strategic commitment of the General Counsel and his team can make a big difference in how the legal team is perceived. For example, I recently spoke with the GC about a pharmaceutical company. He said his CEO was about to give a speech, but he didn`t need to be there – on the contrary, if he got on the podium, everyone would think something bad had happened! It`s never a philosophy I`ve seen in tech companies in terms of legal role. It feels much more integrated. I like to make sure that the legal works in the background, like a good virus scanning program. GC: What do you think the future in-house lawyer and the legal team might look like? I think companies are realizing that what they offer through the individual work of lawyers represents an increasingly smaller share of the total value for clients every year. If you have a team of people doing outsourced legal work, or a back office doing paralegal work, or if you have tools that allow people to access information, these are all ways to add value that is not related to the hourly rate. The most successful law firms will be those that adapt business models to allow them to make investments away from those of professionals who charge by the hour. I`m trying to see where our company is going, not where it is. Our business is dynamic, driven by increased cloud capabilities and the growth of new cloud-based models for the use of IT services.

For us, this means a transition as we move to recurring revenue and subscription purchases, rather than perpetual software licenses. Part of the role of our legal department is to anticipate changes and guess what the world will look like if this transition happens much faster than expected. I think most law firms are aware of the speed of change in the field of professional services. Accounting firms came first. History, culture, and professional ethics (such as state bar associations in the United States) have slowed the pace of change in legal services, but it`s all ending very quickly. GC: What has been the most important way you`ve used technology to fulfill your legal function? With over 30 years of experience in the technology field, Mark Chandler shares his thoughts on disruption, transformation through technology and legal operations; and the future of legal services. The role of the legal department has changed dramatically due to heightened regulatory expectations in the United States, especially since the introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. The focus is now much more on examining financial results. Mark Chandler (MC): I have been in engineering for 32 years. I started working for Siemens in Germany, but not in a legal role. But when it comes to my legal role, the most fundamental changes have been to change the company`s expectations of the function of the legal organization and to deal with increasing regulation.

Much of what Legal does is more directly related to the business than in previous years. What hasn`t changed, and is still quite crucial, is that tech companies (and businesses in general) began turning to the lawyer in the 80s and 90s to add value to the business and clients. More strategic consulting is now a fundamental activity of internal consulting. Our LifeConnections Health Centers (available at three of our largest locations – San Jose, California; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and Bangalore, India) provide high-quality integrated healthcare exclusively to Cisco employees and their families. The LifeConnections team focuses on «the whole of you» – the treatment of mind, body and soul. Employees and their family members can schedule same-day or future appointments (services vary by location): A complete list of support services provided by Cisco Up to $50,000 (maximum lifespan) for family planning expenses not related to medical necessities. Costs covered include harvesting, freezing and storing eggs, sperm and embryos, IVF services and donor services. (Due to IRS rules, employees must be enrolled in a Cisco medical plan when the cost is incurred and when the claim is submitted.) MC: Your world is being disrupted extremely quickly. Some of the big UK companies like Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance have done a really interesting job with outsourcing. Increasingly, you`re seeing law firms like Bryan Cave hire an innovation director whose job it is to reshape the way they deliver services. MC: There will be a transformation of all knowledge-based industries, driven by the pervasive availability of knowledge. This will lead to a transformation of the law and ensure the importance of being an effective advisor.

Legal services are increasingly automated – blockchain technology, which will be revolutionary in its ability to create value in terms of sophisticated transaction structures through automation.