One of the effects of a global health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic is its lasting impact on culture. No sector, field, area or practice of mankind, is spared; not even our occupations. It goes without saying that the field of corporate law and its practitioners, will experience the long-term impact
The rise of an easily transmissible disease, mandatory use of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as face masking, social distancing and the rise of virtual and remote working have all deepened our dependence on technology and forced changes in the practice of corporate law. I’ll expatiate on a few points below:
Contracts and the future
I see Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) taking prominence in contracting processes in most, if not all, global and multinational companies as well as in mid-size companies.
Closely linked will be an increased reliance on cloud hosting services and electronic signature platforms in the contract management process. Use of file hosting and e-signature platforms such as Dropbox and HelloSign will no longer be limited to global corporations and multinational companies. Their prevalence among individuals and small-sized companies across the globe will lead to huge revenue increases in the industry.
In essence, the acquisition and use of AI-driven contracting tools, file hosting and e-signature platforms by law firms, legal departments and in-house counsels will become a norm and, then a ‘must’ rather than a ‘nice to have’.
- Virtual Board Meetings
In Nigeria where there is the penchant to hold on to ‘norms’, some have begun abandoning hosting board and shareholders’ meetings in physical locations in favour of virtual meetings.
Many more will follow suit, depending on how quickly the curve of the spread increases. The legislature who usually play catch up will be forced to develop much-needed guidelines for the regulation of virtual BOD and shareholders’ meetings in Nigeria.
Post-COVID-19, I see the trend of virtual meetings (i.e Board, AGM and other corporate meetings) continuing. They’ll become part of the meeting processes as attendees will be given the option of attending these meetings virtually. We will have a mix of physical and virtual attendees at these meetings.
- Data Privacy
This will necessarily follow the increase in dependence on technology in our daily lives. There will be conversations on data privacy being elevated to the level and recognition given to human rights. For practitioners and by extension, the business community, data privacy and its treatment will take centre stage in contracting, compliance, regulations and laws across the world.
- WFH Requirements
Provisions for virtual working will become one of the central points in drafting employment contracts by practitioners. This will be a natural evolution following the changes currently being experienced at the workplace. Lawmakers will have to make new laws or amend existing laws to accommodate these changes.
- Courtroom Disruption
Just as board and other corporate meetings become virtual, courtroom drama will cease to happen in containments called courtrooms. Virtual court sessions have become available for lawyers and litigants to adopt – an option that will be popular with litigants who live in countries or jurisdictions different from that which they have pending court cases. A saving on travel expenses, I dare say.
- Tech Savvy
Expertise in technology law is also becoming a key requirement for in-house counsel roles. A certification in technology law will become equally as important as being called to the Bar. Employers will demand proof of knowledge and skill in dealing with technology and the issues related to them as a corporate law practitioner.
A mini-revolution about to be unravelled, an emerging frontier.