“The best GC is someone the business wants in the room when things are going well, but whose judgment it values most when the answer is difficult.”

Ivan Casella, Head of Legal, Compliance & Governance at Brugola OEB Industriale S.p.A. in Italy, discusses why practical judgement sits at the heart of effective legal leadership – knowing which risks matter, what the business is trying to achieve and when an uncomfortable view needs to be heard.

In what ways do you see the role of the GC changing over the next 5-10 years?

Over the next 5–10 years, I believe the General Counsel will become even less of a traditional legal adviser and increasingly a strategic contributor to how the company operates and makes decisions.

Technology and AI will accelerate this evolution. A growing share of legal research, drafting, contract review and compliance monitoring will become automated. As a result, the distinctive value of the GC will increasingly lie elsewhere: in judgment, business understanding, leadership and the ability to navigate complexity and uncertainty.

I also expect Legal, Compliance, Governance and Risk to become progressively more integrated. The GC will therefore need to understand not only the law, but also the company’s business model, financial priorities, operational processes, technology and risk appetite.

As these areas converge, the GC will increasingly sit at the intersection of multiple business functions, connecting legal, commercial, financial and operational perspectives. The role will be less about providing legal answers in isolation and more about helping the organisation make better decisions.

What qualities do you believe distinguish truly impactful GCs from good ones?

The principal differentiator, in my view, is practical legal judgment.

A good GC identifies the legal issue and understands the applicable law. A truly impactful GC goes further: they assess how material the risk actually is, understand how it interacts with the commercial objective and identify a proportionate solution that allows the business to move forward.

That requires technical competence, but also experience, common sense, business acumen and the confidence to make decisions without perfect information. Business decisions cannot be based on abstract legal risk alone.

Judgment, however, is not enough. Impactful GCs build strong relationships, listen carefully, understand how the company creates value and translate complex legal issues into clear, actionable advice. Emotional intelligence is therefore critical: understanding people, reading the room and knowing how to influence rather than simply instruct.

At the same time, integrity, independence and the courage to express an uncomfortable view when necessary are fundamental. The best GC is someone the business wants in the room when things are going well, but whose judgment it values most when the answer is difficult.

If you could change one perception about the in-house legal profession, what would it be?

I would change the perception that Legal is fundamentally a control or support function whose purpose is to identify problems and tell the business what it cannot do.

The modern in-house lawyer should start from a different question: not simply, “What is legally wrong with this?”, but “What are we trying to achieve, what are the real risks, and how can we achieve the objective in a legally sound and sustainable way?”

In-house lawyers are part of the business. We share the same objective as our colleagues: the long-term success of the company. That means being involved early, understanding commercial and operational realities, and helping design business solutions rather than merely reviewing them afterwards.