The Road Not Taken: The CLE Next Door

Imagine the benefits of listening to your colleagues...

One of the best things about working in-house is being so close to people who have different jobs. It’s something many people take for granted: access to entire divisions of people whose daily duties are different from yours. Sometimes you work together, but not always. Even better, if you are polite and sincerely interested, they share a little bit of their knowledge with you. This isn’t organized learning, nothing scheduled through a lunch-and-learn, or a brown-bag discussion, but one person reaching out to another.

Lawyers at law firms usually have a point of contact with a business client and can request access to individuals for a matter-related purpose, but not usually for the purpose of learning something new. There usually isn’t the opportunity to take a day to sit with the client without an open matter for the purpose of learning more about the client, not until “Take Your Outside Counsel To Work Day” becomes a thing.

What’s the benefit of learning about the new supply chain tool or the new development program the software engineers are working on, especially when none of this directly related to the legal department’s role? First, you learn something and gaining new knowledge is always valuable. The type of knowledge that is gained by understanding the daily requirements and concerns of a division is different than the knowledge obtained when there is a specific reason for a lawyer to be in the room.

Second, you have shown your colleague you are interested in what he or she does all day. That means something. People like knowing their work is noticed. Every small act you can do to create goodwill with others is fruitful. Greater knowledge also provides context. The more you know about your organization and the individual components of its functioning parts, the better able you will be to issue-spot and craft creative solutions when problems arise. On an individual level, unless you started the business and know everyone in the organization, there are people throughout an organization who have done wonderful things you may never know about until you proactively learn more. Reaching out means you can find these people, and possibly find a mentor or at least create an ally in the process. Furthermore, you may find something you are passionate about and this small gesture can lead to creating a fulfilling career path.

It all seems so obvious, why wouldn’t we all hang out with our colleagues and learn what they do? Two big reasons: time and access. We’re all busy. Lawyers are busy, our colleagues are busy. To learn from our colleagues, we have to prioritize and make time for it to happen. Sure, our colleagues want to show off what they are doing and feel appreciated, but they also have a job to do without babysitting some yahoo from Legal. Finding someone who is willing to take the time out of his or her day to share knowledge can be difficult.

Another obstacle to impromptu learning, but perhaps not as apparent as the first two, is humility. Lawyers are accustomed to sharing information, not learning. We like to be listened to, not listening. To sit down with information that is foreign; to admit that this information is basic to the person teaching us is difficult. The impulse is there to act like we know everything. Telling a colleague what you think you know about his job is a quick way to make sure he never makes time to share knowledge again, or will at least be more selective with whom he shares it.

Taking the time and making the effort to reach beyond the comfort of the legal department’s domain can be challenging, but is worthwhile. It’s an often overlooked benefit to being an in-house lawyer. If you feel stagnant in your office, uninspired, or just need a break from what you are looking at, leave your office and find someone who can spend thirty minutes sharing with you.  If they are busy, schedule the time. We’re all better when we know more.

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Celeste Harrison Forst has practiced in small and mid-sized firms and is now in-house at a large manufacturing and technology company where she receives daily hugs from her colleagues. You can reach Celeste directly at C.harrisonforst@gmail.com.

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