Legal Career Paradox: Record Job Satisfaction, Stalled Career Growth Among DGCs

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Feb 11, 2025, 10:00 ET

New research finds 80% of Deputy General Counsel believe they must leave their current positions to advance their careers despite a 96% job satisfaction rate

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Deputy General Counsel (DGCs) have a dilemma on their hands: their careers. While their job satisfaction jumped from 70% in 2023 to 96% in 2024, eight out of 10 DGCs surveyed said face they face barriers to advancing at their current companies, and they will need to jump ship to get the skills they will need to succeed as a GC. That's according to the latest research published today, the 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report, with research conducted by Wakefield Research and commissioned by Axiom. This year's report is a follow up to Axiom's previous look at the DGC's world: The 2023 DGC report.

David McVeigh, Chief Executive Officer, Axiom

Chief among the insights culled from 200 U.S. and U.K. DGCs, the 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report found DGCs reported limited upward mobility, stagnated careers, and insufficient or non-existent learning, upper management, and leadership opportunities as a member of their current teams. Their daily responsibilities reportedly consumed most or all their time, brainpower, and energy. And they said they're not getting the time and executive-level opportunities to develop the skills they need to advance to the next stage of their careers.

"Today's DGCs feel stuck," said David McVeigh, CEO at Axiom. "They love their jobs but feel constrained by heavy day-to-day workloads that leave little time for strategic work. This creates a succession planning challenge: when a GC departs, is there a prepared successor who knows the business and has built trust with leadership? Empowering DGCs to work more closely with GCs and leadership strengthens both the company's talent pipeline and its future."

The 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report's research identified three essential skill sets DGCs need to have to advance to GC roles: strategic leadership and governance, people management, and legal department management. It also identified that DGCs point to resource constraints as driving them to prioritize immediate operational legal needs over investing time in developing these vital capabilities

In addition to resource constraints limiting time they could spend on high-level and more strategic (and rewarding) work, the 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report found several barriers are holding DGCs back the majority of respondents said were persistent obstacles on the path to becoming a GC. These included inadequate exposure to board-level decision-making and strategic planning, limited opportunities for developing people management and team leadership acumen, and managing organization-wide technological innovation and transformation—including determining the use, rollout, and management of legal AI.

Other highlights from the 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report include:

Leadership Access Barriers: Board exposure and governance experience—prerequisites for GC roles—remain out of reach for over a third of DGCs (38% and 40% respectively), respondents reported. While strong communication skills are considered the most important for General Counsel, 31% of Deputy General Counsel lack the opportunity to develop these skills, creating a significant gap in preparing future leaders.
Resource-Driven Career Barriers: Nearly half (47%) of DGCs reported their departments are under-resourced. Among these under-resourced DGCs, 98% also face career progression challenges - showing how limited resources potential impact on professional development opportunities.
AI Implementation Barriers: Despite 94% of DGCs believing in legal AI's reported benefits, only 43% consider their organization's AI training sufficient for real legal work. This gap between AI adoption and practical training leaves DGCs underprepared to lead legal tech transformation and deliver AI-enabled value to their organizations.

The 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 200 Deputy General Counsel in the US and UK at companies with a minimum annual revenue of $250 million USD, between December 2 and December 15, 2024, using an email invitation and an online survey. Quotas were set for 100 respondents per country.

The 2025 Deputy General Counsel Report can be downloaded free of charge at https://www.axiomlaw.com/resources/articles/dgc-report

For more information or to talk to an Axiom representative, visit https://www.axiomlaw.com. For more information about Axiom, please visit our website, hear from our experts on the Inside Axiom blog, network with us on LinkedIn, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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SOURCE Axiom