Corporate law departments have been a growing sector of the legal profession but the number of lawyers employed in this segment of the profession appears currently to be stable there are two principal methods of organization in corporate law departments decentralized and centralized. The corporate legal department internal oversees a firms litigation and compliance with internal and external regulations and laws in some cases an internal corporate legal group may also handle intellectual property issues trademarks copyrights patents risk management and or corporate governance certain legal functions may be outsourced to an external law firm. The future of corporate legal legal departments can determine their destinies and decide if and how they choose to embrace innovations in technology new service delivery models and increased operational and cost efficiencies no matter what future a legal department envisions for itself it will need to start forming a strategy today for how to get there. The corporate legal department together with the corporate secretary also plays an essential role in the design and administration of i the eads corporate governance procedures and ii the legal documentation underlying the delegation of powers and responsibilities and defining the eads management and ic environment