New Research from the Association of Corporate Counsel, in Partnership with FTI Consulting, Compares European legal departments to global findings from the 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey.
Brussels, Belgium — Forty percent of European Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) reported increased costs due to internal investigations, compared to only 29% globally, according to the 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey (CLO Survey), released today by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), in partnership with FTI Consulting, Inc.
The CLO Survey provides a unique, global perspective on the evolving role of the chief legal officer (CLO) position and trends related to legal departments’ involvement in helping organizations adapt to a demanding business environment. This year, a supplemental report compares European-specific data to the results of the global survey.
“Increased investigation-related costs, a higher focus on operational efficiency, and more plans to adopt new legal technology are some key differences highlighted by this regional data,” said Veta T. Richardson, ACC President & CEO. “The ACC CLO Survey with this European-supplemental data provide actionable insights for ACC Europe Chapter members and the larger European legal community to help inform their own strategies and conversations with their regional and global peers.”
Several of the key European findings include:
- Reporting Structure:
- 73% of European CLOs report directly to the CEO, compared to 79% globally.
- Among those not reporting to the CEO, 59% in Europe report to the CFO, significantly higher than the global average of 44%.
- 73% of European CLOs report directly to the CEO, compared to 79% globally.
- Investigations & Disputes:
- 58% of European CLOs report an increase in the volume of internal investigations, compared to 44% globally.
- 40% in Europe report increased costs due to these investigations, versus 29% globally.
- 58% of European CLOs report an increase in the volume of internal investigations, compared to 44% globally.
- Strategic Priorities:
- 42% of European CLOs rank operational efficiency as their top priority, 7% higher than the global average.
- Globally, talent management, data security, and litigation defensibility are higher priorities than in Europe.
- 42% of European CLOs rank operational efficiency as their top priority, 7% higher than the global average.
- Regulatory Challenges:
- The top barrier for European CLOs is regulatory uncertainty (33%), while globally, the biggest challenge is understaffing.
- The top barrier for European CLOs is regulatory uncertainty (33%), while globally, the biggest challenge is understaffing.
- Outside Counsel Reliance:
- 53% of European CLOs increased reliance on outside counsel in the past year, higher than the global average.
- 53% of European CLOs increased reliance on outside counsel in the past year, higher than the global average.
“I was not surprised to see that in Europe the biggest challenge is the regulatory uncertainty. This is in line with the Draghi report. Companies in Europe are struggling with fragmented regulation, lack of guidelines and inconsistent enforcement. Against this backdrop, in-house teams play a key role in helping companies that want to stay compliant navigate this uncertainty,” said Maria Barros, President of ACC Europe Chapter and Chief Legal and Public Affairs Officer of Booking.com. “This comparison helps legal teams across Europe see how our experiences align or differ from legal departments elsewhere. The ACC CLO Survey and the European-supplemental data are useful to help us adjust our own assumptions related to the issues CLOs and legal departments face today.”
The ACC CLO global survey can be found here. The European-supplemental data can be found here.
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