Interview: Paul Werné — The evolving role of the General Counsel

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As part of CORALS 2025, Paul Werné — President of Corail Consultants — reflects on the transformation of the General Counsel role.
From the rigor of legal expertise to the posture of strategic leadership, from digital integration to the human dimension of the function, this conversation shines a light on the evolving complexity of modern legal departments.

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💼 1. What are the qualities of a General Counsel?

Paul Werné:
Obviously, you need to be a good lawyer. Law is about security; business is about risk-taking.
A good in-house lawyer must reconcile these opposites — reasoning with both rigor and pragmatism — while defending a constructive position with integrity and conviction.

Secondly, a General Counsel must be a good manager: organizing people, promoting the legal department, anticipating risks and opportunities, and accompanying technological change.

Finally, there is the awareness of law’s relativity inside a company: the “right” legal answer is worthless if it is not understood, respected, and applied.

“A legally flawless position can still destroy billions in market value if misunderstood by investors or the public.”

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⚙️ 2. The future of the function — opportunities and challenges

Being an in-house lawyer means being inside the business.
The legal function must integrate into the company’s overall logic — governance, compliance, competition, ethics — not stand apart from it.

This growing role demands professional excellence but also human skills: empathy, communication, the ability to arbitrate without isolation.

“Corporate law today is also about posture — about how you connect, not just what you know.”

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🧠 3. Technology and the transformation of the legal function

Decision-making, archiving, experience sharing — all are being reshaped by technology and AI.
These tools have not yet found their place in the legal function, but they will not replace lawyers; they will become their allies.

They raise new questions of governance, organization, and ethics.
Tomorrow’s General Counsel must learn to think with technology, not against it.

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🌍 4. Internationalization — a new legal mindset

Internationalization is no longer a trend; it is a condition of business.
Companies are expanding globally, and rules from different legal systems increasingly overlap.
The lawyer’s job is to translate, not just to apply.

“American standards such as the FCPA have spread worldwide,
but every jurisdiction reads them through its own cultural lens.”

This makes the present moment both challenging and exciting — it demands a complete renewal of the way corporate lawyers think and act.

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🧩 5. Corail Consultants and the new legal function

Corail Consultants is not another training firm or legal think-tank.
It is a consulting and training platform designed to optimize the corporate legal function and governance,
so that every company can rely on an efficient, organized — and, as Paul puts it — “I dare say, profitable” legal department.

Our missions combine consulting, audits, and training.
They are always anchored in operational logic and adapted to each client’s specific context,
whether national or international.

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