Ineffective in-house lawyers can endanger compliance programs that take tremendous time and effort to put into place. It is not enough to have rigorous compliance programs and plans, they must be followed and in-house lawyers must lead from the front especially if they want to reduce the stress levels of their in-house clients:
“……an in-house attorney….was required to review and approve a contract with a third-party, where a cursory due diligence review would have uncovered major red flags. The in-house attorney reviewed the contract without inquiring about the third-party or whether due diligence had been conducted…In another incident, an…attorney was asked to review and approve a contract engaging the local government customer to assist in selling productsin other areas…The attorney correctly asked the business why the company needed to retain the new intermediary. In the face of resistance, the attorney eventually backed down and approved the arrangement.”
Read: The Danger to a Compliance Program of Ineffective In-House Lawyers at JDSupra