Via the editorial in the June issue of Corporate Legal Times, I learned today about a fascinating organization called The Open Compliance and Ethics Group.
OECG is a not-for-profit consortium that, among other goals, seeks to “provide a flexible and practical best practice framework for integrating governance, compliance, risk management, and integrity into all business processes [and] Provide a community of practice for exchange of information, tools and feedback for the continual improvement of the Framework.”
I have previously posted about the idea of open source law. As I understand it, OCEG is more a compliance framework than an interpretation or setting forth of specific rules, but it seems very much of the open source spirit.
If the 100+ page draft framework document gains traction, it will be interesting to observe if any law firms create enabling technology for companies adopting it. This could include anything from extranets with more particular guidance to workflow systems to online training. Though counseling typically does not have the same leverage (and hence margin) as do transactions and litigation, an offering in this area might well position a firm for high margin work that occurs when a compliance problem occurs.