Decide — The Corail Consultants Blog
Giving meaning to the legal and governance function.
One interview, a few sharp questions, and an open invitation to decide.
To read, to engage, to challenge. To structure. To transform.
Create. Structure. Transform.
The Decide blog is a space for methodological reflection for any organization that wants to restore meaning, momentum, and strategy to its legal and governance function.
Here, we don’t ramble. We clarify. We confront. We support. Through case studies, interviews, and questions raised by our readers, we explore what a well-conceived, well-carried, and well-equipped legal function can become.
Interview with Paul (as part of the CORALS conference)
🗣️ A possible answer to a question many ask. Paul shares how he brought structure and renewed purpose to his legal function.
Interview with Paul Werné, President of Corail Consultants
What makes a good General Counsel?
Obviously, being a good lawyer. Law is about security, but business is about taking risks. You have to be able to reconcile the two — think with legal rigor and pragmatism, reach a constructive position, and defend it with integrity and conviction.
Then comes the manager: managing people, organizing, representing and promoting the legal department, anticipating opportunities and risks, monitoring budgets, and embracing technological change.
Finally, there’s the need for perspective: knowing how to position the legal function within the broader business, understanding the company’s strategy, finances, and decision-making processes. A legally sound position means little if it’s not applied — and a watertight legal answer can wipe out billions in market cap if it’s badly perceived by the public or investors.
The future of the legal function — challenges and opportunities
Being a legal professional means being part of the business. To be impactful, the legal function must integrate with all areas of the company, including governance, competition, compliance — fields that complement or rival legal work.
This means its role is growing — requiring increased professionalism — and becoming more relative — calling for stronger soft skills and team dynamics.
Then there’s technology: decision-making, archiving, and knowledge-sharing tools are multiplying. They won’t replace legal professionals, but they must become allies. And they raise new legal and organizational challenges.
Finally, internationalization isn’t new — but it’s intensifying. Both in business (global operations) and in law (extraterritorial rules like the FCPA).
So, what’s Corail Consultants’ role in all this?
Corail Consultants is not just another training center or legal advisory firm. We are a firm built to optimize company performance through legal and governance structuring — helping organizations develop a legal function that is well-organized, efficient, and yes — profitable.
Our consulting, auditing, and training missions address real-world issues with an operational mindset, always tailored to the client’s context — local or international.
And you — what is your legal function for?
Some corporate functions are no longer questioned: finance, HR, operations. We know what’s expected from them, even if the form evolves.
The legal function often exists without clear definition. It’s there, but what’s its mission? Visibility? Legitimacy?
A function… or a stance?
At Corail Consultants, we often meet brilliant but isolated legal departments. Useful functions, but invisible. Legal reflexes, but little strategy.
The legal and governance function isn’t a checkbox, nor a cost center. It should — and can — be a strategic lever. But it needs meaning. And structure.
Recognizable signs
- A legal team overwhelmed with reactive requests, unable to say no
- Technically solid documents that fail to engage
- A leadership that « values » legal — mostly when it puts out fires
- Lawyers working in isolation, navigating between rigor and frustration
- Tools that look reassuring… but don’t actually guide or support action
So let’s go back to the need
Our job at Corail is to help organizations take back control. Not by delivering turnkey solutions, but by asking the right questions.
What is this function for, here, now?
Who does it serve? Who carries it? What does it produce? What does it protect? What does it enable?
🛠️ Let’s take stock
(Just a few questions — no pressure — to see where you stand.)
- Does the legal function in my organization have a clear purpose… or has it become a reflexive institution?
- Is it embodied by someone? A team? A vision? Or just a box in the org chart?
- Are there tangible tools to steer it: a roadmap, priorities, performance indicators?
- Are our legal documents (memos, contracts, analyses) strategic or merely technical?
- Who reviews, challenges, or shares this function? Is it collective — or just intuitive?
And you — where do you stand?
Feel free to comment, share your doubts, or just keep these questions nearby.
And if you sense that an outside perspective could help clarify or structure things… you know where to find us.
So — what should your legal and governance function be for?
It’s not for us to answer.
It’s for you to start thinking about.