Successful companies are those whose owners fully appreciate the importance of establishing an in-house legal department, whatever the company's type, size or line of business, so that they have the legal support they need in every aspect of the company's affairs.
Underscoring this point, a 2020 Harvard Business Review study found that a number of US companies lost millions of dollars because they failed to establish legal departments and work with specialist lawyers who provide effective legal advice to protect the company's interests.
What Does Establishing a Legal Department Involve?
The legal department is a company's safety valve. A company that appoints a law firm to establish its legal department authorizes the firm to lay down the company's regulatory and legal foundations in line with the laws and regulations governing business in Saudi Arabia, to oversee their application by managers and employees, and to follow up on all cases involving the company, among the other responsibilities that come with this role.
Objectives of a Corporate Legal Department
A corporate legal department aims to achieve the following:
- Providing the company with the legal support it needs from the start of its formation.
- Reviewing the company's administrative decisions to confirm that they comply with laws and regulations and that business is conducted lawfully.
- Making it easier to defend the company's rights before all competent courts and judicial authorities.
- Identifying the best legal approach to everything the company does across its business and activities.
To achieve these objectives, you need a legal department lawyer with a strong reputation in the field and a thorough understanding of every task required to protect the company's rights and assets. That is the conviction of our team at Sahal Law Firm, where high quality and competence ensure that every action taken is sound.
Core Responsibilities of a Corporate Legal Department
- Drafting the company's implementing regulations, setting out its regulatory and legal foundations in line with the Kingdom's labor and business regulations.
- Overseeing the application of these regulations by managers, administrators, employees and all other staff of the company.
- Following up on all cases involving the company and defending its rights and assets before the courts and judicial authorities.
- Advising on the company's decisions and actions and ensuring that its business is conducted lawfully.
- Developing the company's legal strategies to secure full protection.
Sahal Law Firm's extensive experience equips us to handle every aspect of establishing in-house legal departments with a high level of quality and professionalism that meets international standards, ensuring your company runs at its best and is protected from penalties, fines and legal liability.
Why Empowering Your Legal Department Matters
Many owners of companies and establishments overlook the importance of empowering the legal department within their businesses, despite the many indispensable advantages it offers, most importantly:
- Sound legal advice on the Labor Law and the company's affairs in general.
- Drafting and reviewing every contract the company enters into, as well as drafting its financial and administrative regulations.
- Registering trademarks and patents and protecting the company's intellectual property.
- Protecting the company from penalties, financial fines and similar sanctions.
- Representing the company before the courts and judicial authorities and defending its rights and assets.
- Building legal awareness within the company.
We provide legal professionals with the knowledge and professional qualifications to establish corporate legal departments and carry out all related tasks to the highest standard, achieving your goals and meeting your company's needs in the marketplace.
Our Services for Establishing Legal Departments
Contact Sahal Law Firm for the best services available in establishing in-house legal departments, including:
- Establishing legal departments for government and private companies of every type.
- Developing legal department regulations and systems in line with Saudi laws and regulations and the demands of the market.
- Providing the company with the legal support it needs from its formation onward, such as specialist legal staff, legal advice, administrative and guidance manuals, and the drafting of regulations.
- Reviewing the company's administrative decisions to ensure they comply with the applicable rules and laws.
- Drafting and legally reviewing all of the company's contracts, agreements, memoranda and regulations.
- Following up on cases to which the company is a party.
- Representing companies and establishments before the competent courts and judicial authorities.
- Resolving disputes between parties connected to the company, such as clients, employees and managers.
- Managing legal spend, analyzing internal and external costs, managing contracts, handling tax litigation, and providing real-time and periodic reporting on the company's legal matters and performance.
- Managing legal documents with the highest level of security for storing confidential data, with access limited to authorized personnel only.
- Adopting the best integrated solutions for legal operations to improve efficiency, boost productivity, achieve the company's goals and give it a competitive edge.
- Developing the legal department in ways that serve the company's interests and safeguard its reputation and customer trust.
How to Find a Legal Department Lawyer Who Delivers Professionally
With so many law firms to choose from, it can be hard to find a specialist lawyer who delivers professional services in establishing in-house legal departments. These key criteria will make it easier to choose a firm you can trust:
- First, before drawing up a shortlist of law firms, make sure each firm is accredited by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and holds a license to practice. You can then compare these firms on the following criteria.
- Long and broad experience, in both knowledge and professional practice.
- An outstanding reputation and adoption of the latest internationally recognized methods and developments.
- Recommendations from former clients who have worked with the firm.
- Effective, productive communication, keeping the client updated on every development in their cases and legal transactions and making client satisfaction a priority.
- Prompt responses to client queries, especially since some legal matters cannot wait.
- Specialist staff in the field, with a clear list of services and a good fit with your company's requirements and needs.
- Use of the best technologies and software for delivering legal department services to the highest standard.
Sahal Law Firm meets every one of these criteria, with a select team of lawyers specializing in establishing in-house legal departments who work as one to meet our clients' needs and achieve their goals. They remain committed to quality, credibility, transparency and integrity, to the pursuit of swift justice, and to complete confidentiality of our clients' data and protection of their privacy.
Our Approach to Establishing Corporate Legal Departments
To make sure your goals are met and your requirements fulfilled, Sahal Law Firm follows a dedicated strategy for establishing in-house legal departments:
- Understanding the nature of the company or establishment, including its type, the scale of its business and its line of activity, so that we can assign the right legal professionals from among the best legal department lawyers and build a legal department that meets the company's requirements and needs.
- Companies in Saudi Arabia take many forms, including general partnerships, joint stock companies, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, cooperative companies and partnerships limited by shares. Each has its own requirements, on which we base the design of the right legal department.
Key Units of a Corporate Legal Department
A corporate legal department comprises several units that together cover every legal aspect of the company:
- Advisory and Legal Opinions.
- Legal Studies, Research and Projects.
- Contracts and Agreements.
- Legal Transactions.
- Litigation and Disputes.
- Investigations.
- Enforcement of Judgments.
The legal department and its units should be developed on a regular basis, since this ongoing development contributes directly to the company's excellence in its field and earns it a distinguished reputation among its peers and its customers, fulfilling the company's ultimate objective.
The core aim of our services is to put in place the legal foundations for success, prosperity and sustainability for companies in Saudi Arabia, freeing them to focus on running the business, the quality of their output and earning their customers' trust. That is why we work to understand our clients' needs precisely, so that we can deliver the best possible service in establishing and structuring corporate legal departments.
