Legal departments advise management, management decides. In this case, if the legal department paints pictures of doom, and the ops department paints pictures

Legal departments advise management, management decides. In this case, if the legal department paints pictures of doom, and the ops department paints pictures of cost savings, it's up in the air (pun intended) which management will pick. A competent legal department will provide a realistic assessment of risk to go into this decision making process, not just obstruct everything.