<p>The article examines the significance of compliance within organizations from a practical, sociological, and legal perspective. It demonstrates how compliance has evolved from a niche function to a central management task, extending far beyond mere legal compliance. In light of increasing regulation, such as ESG standards, the supply chain or whistleblower protection laws, new obligations and expectations arise for compliance. Compliance experts must not only understand legal norms but also translate them into the language and logic of the organization to ensure operational capability. This dual role as translators between law and organization leads to tensions between normative clarity and organizational practice. The article discusses the challenges compliance teams face, for example, despite limited resources, to build legitimacy and trust while simultaneously fulfilling symbolic and functional tasks. From an neoinstitutional and systems theory perspective, it becomes clear that compliance serves as a control instrument, a symbolic legitimation tool, and a component of organizational rationality myths. Finally, the article provides impulses for research and theory development, focusing on translation processes, professionalization, and the structural coupling of law and organization.</p>