But that first in-house role brings challenges that take many by surprise. New in-housers need to develop a different set of skills to manage the demands of having the client sitting outside the door.
Fancy hotels, international travel, and the unlimited budget that goes with being part of the core business. One legal head in Asia laughingly recounts her first experience of post-law firm life.
But there was no keyboard, no mouse, there was nothing else on my desk! This could be knowledge management, databases, or hands on deck. Perhaps this is down to an economy-driven approach that has crept into legal departments over recent years, impacting not only facilities, but staffing. Yet interestingly, despite a focus on economics and metrics, the new in-houser might also be startled by lengthy meetings seemingly designed to waste time — anathema to those previously yoked to the billable hour.
Many reported that without the moral support of a large group of law firm lawyers or a substantial in-house team, the sole company counsel can be a lonely position. A universal tip for new in-house lawyers is to not be afraid to be proactive in building a network of other in-house lawyers. Get a referral, get an introduction to call people if necessary — just introduce yourself. That approach has now led to a regular network which meets up to discuss legal and industry developments and provide informal support.
Taking control of your own needs is a key lesson to learn, particularly for the lone in-house counsel, or for those in smaller teams. This is crucial in an environment where being resourceful is a useful skill. So I did a course in compliance. So many things happened because I asked. Junior in-house lawyers need to get used to being outside their comfort zone, more senior personnel point out.
Get a referral, get an introduction. Kher Sheng arrived during the process of starting up a fund, when the paint still smelt fresh on the walls, and found that the role involved not so much answering legal questions, but coming up with the questions in the first place.
Our sources learned that in-house counsel need to step up and take responsibility quickly — because the role necessitates taking more decisions than a law firm associate might typically be expected to make.
This means jettisoning any feelings of risk aversion left over from private practice. Because non-legal members of staff will be looking for the lawyer to input into decision-making. If new in-housers adopt this thinking early on it will be a blessing in disguise, in a climate where the emphasis is increasingly on where you can add value outside of the day to day expectations of the role.
Therein lies an important realisation that came late to many of the in-house counsel GC spoke to for this piece — often legal expertise is a given in the eyes of the business, which focuses instead on what else a lawyer can bring to the table.
Hand in hand with this guidance for a lawyer new to business is to develop a thorough knowledge of the sector they are entering, outside of the legal sphere. He conveyed his observations of in-house legal counsel development, while working in the same company for many years he had witnessed the profession changing according to the evolution of the opinion of legal view, from compliance for technological developments to commercial decisions.
It was a great real life experience shared with all of the attendees. Expanding roles have caused lawyers to become more involved in the business world. Rather than evaluating the legal consequences of the commercial decisions taken by the company, law firms, which have the motive of efficiency, value and commercial awareness that shape the relationship between corporate identity and law, were among those preferred to be consulted by in-house legal counsels.
Nowadays, the law offices that have a good grasp on the corporate memory of the represented company, that are competent in assisting the company to achieve its strategic goals for different locations in a globalising world and which can expand its visions, stand out. With the evolution of in-house legal counsels from a figure providing only legal advice, to a complex role covering strategy and leadership. This evolution results in the expectation that counsels will drive critical business decisions by providing a legal perspective.
The most significant reason for the increasing need for law firms is the growing demand for in-house legal counsels and the expansion of their job description. We have faced numerous situations where law firm expectations have moved to a commercial dimension.
For example, we made suggestions to a client who wanted to be an angel investor, about which companies he can invest in and which start-up company had a big potential. Additionally, when one of our foreign investor clients intended to become a business partner with a local company, we contacted the appropriate company and brought the two together together.
These examples showcase our law firm working within a commercial dimension, analysing business needs and requirements. Besides our duty to provide legal opinion, sometimes it may be necessary to be involved in companies' business decisions. At the Summit, an in-house legal counsel of a leading international company in the automotive sector described the filters in the search for a law firm as 'effective, solution-oriented, fulfilling the requirements in a short time'.
For law firm attorneys, this level of interaction and exposure can be limited if not non-existent. If you do not make partner, you either remain an associate for many years until it becomes too embarrassing to stay; or, if it exists at your firm, you may move into a non-partner role with a special title — e.
At a company, attorneys often have various long term career opportunities available to them. Depending on the organization and its size, you may have the opportunity to move between practice disciplines in the legal group e. The in-house long term career opportunities are broader and may be more easily achieved than law firm partnership. Because law firms value attorneys that can develop and bring in new business to the firm with some level of regularity, this is generally a prerequisite to becoming a partner and remaining a partner.
However, this can be a daunting task for many attorneys because business development is generally sales-oriented, and it is not a skill that law schools or law firms teach. In an in-house setting, there is no business development pressure, need or requirement. Attorneys at law firms often are called to assist their corporate clients part-way through a deal or transaction when, for example, an issue arises; or, they may only be asked to handle a specific portion of a deal.
Conversely, in-house attorneys are generally not only part of deals from start to finish, but they frequently participate in the pre-planning and business strategy.
They also have the opportunity to see how their work and legal counsel impacts the company long-term. For in-house attorneys, the company or business unit s within the company is the client. The in-house attorney works with internal legal and business teams, all having a common goal to assist their single client.
This is contrasted with doing a little here and a little there for multiple clients and lacking the same level of cohesiveness. While many attorneys are under the impression that they may get less sophisticated work by leaving a big law firm and going in-house, this is simply not the case with many companies.
As a cost-cutting measure, more and more companies are keeping their legal work in-house versus outsourcing it to outside counsel. So, where you have a large, global company that keeps much of their legal work in-house and engages in complex and sophisticated transactions or litigation valued at billions of dollars, the end result is that their in-house attorneys have the opportunity to work on exciting, high-profile and sophisticated legal matters to which they may not otherwise have access.
This is even more true at many big law firms where some associates get little hands-on experience or interaction with the clients. Large companies with global operations require legal counsel in the countries in which they are conducting business. This is often accomplished with attorneys native to the country in which the company has operations, but many companies are also sending their U.
This is a very appealing opportunity for some attorneys and can be a primary motivation to work for global companies. Sharon A. McLaughlin, Esq. If you have any questions or require assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. With a rapidly changing industry, it's vital to offer the right compensation and set the right expectation.
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This article was originally posted on The Daily Record.
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