The Data Dilemma: How In-House Legal Teams Can Navigate One of 2025’s Biggest Challenges

In today’s digital-first world, data is both an asset and a liability for businesses. With ever-expanding data volumes, evolving privacy regulations, and escalating cybersecurity threats, in-house legal teams are under immense pressure to mitigate risk while ensuring compliance. General Counsel (GCs) and corporate legal departments must not only manage existing legal complexities but also stay ahead of rapidly shifting global regulations.

Let’s dive into the key data challenges facing in-house legal teams in 2025—and, more importantly, how to overcome them.

1. The Explosion of Data Volumes

The sheer amount of data companies generate is staggering—around 2.5 quintillion bytes every day. This includes everything from customer purchase histories and website engagement data to operational reports, contracts, and internal communications and records. 

For in-house legal teams, uncontrolled data growth increases regulatory risk, litigation exposure, and operational inefficiencies. Without structured data governance, businesses may retain unnecessary or high-risk data, making them vulnerable to audits, legal disputes, and cyber threats.

What You Can Do

• Implement clear data retention and disposal policies to prevent unnecessary risk.
• Collaborate with IT to ensure data mapping and classification align with legal and compliance frameworks.
• Prepare for audits and potential litigation by establishing defensible data management practices.

2. Data Privacy & Compliance: A Moving Target

New data privacy laws are emerging globally, and staying compliant is more challenging than ever. Regulations like GDPR and CCPA impose strict guidelines on how businesses collect, store, and protect personal data. Failure to comply can result in massive fines—up to 4% of global annual revenue under GDPR or $7,500 per violation under CCPA.

Beyond these broad regulations, industry-specific laws add another layer of complexity. HIPAA governs the handling of protected health information (PHI) for healthcare organizations, while GLBA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) mandates stringent data security measures for financial institutions. Notably, GLBA violations don’t just result in organizational fines—individual officers and directors can also face civil penalties or even criminal charges, making strict compliance a top priority for in-house legal teams.

For in-house legal teams, the challenge isn’t just keeping up with these evolving laws—it’s ensuring company-wide adherence, particularly in high-risk departments like Finance, Marketing, HR, and Customer Service, which regularly handle sensitive and personal information. 

What You Can Do

• Conduct regular internal data audits to identify compliance gaps.
• Develop comprehensive data policies and ensure employees understand their legal obligations.
• Work cross-functionally with different departments to enforce best practices for data handling across the organization.

3. The Rising Threat of Data Breaches

Data breaches are no longer an "if"—they’re a when. 2024 saw some of the largest breaches in history, including Ticketmaster, AT&T, and Change Healthcare, just to name a few, with costs reaching $9 billion in response efforts. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2024 report, the average cost of a breach is now $4.88 million, with legal teams playing a crucial role in damage control.

In-house counsel must lead breach response efforts, ensuring compliance with relevant privacy laws, timely notification to affected parties, coordination with cybersecurity teams to mitigate damage, and managing potential litigation. 

What You Can Do

• Partner with IT to enforce strong cybersecurity policies and conduct regular security audits.
• Establish a data breach response plan to act quickly in the event of an incident.
• Train employees on cyber hygiene and data security best practices to reduce human error risks.

Final Thoughts

Data challenges will only continue to grow in complexity, making proactive data governance, compliance, and security measures essential for in-house legal teams. By developing robust policies, fostering cross-department collaboration, and staying ahead of regulatory shifts, GCs can better safeguard their organizations while minimizing legal and financial exposure.

Need support navigating the evolving legal landscape? We can help you build an in-house team with specialists in data privacy, compliance, and risk management to tackle your toughest challenges. Let’s connect.