In-House Counsel

Becoming A Meeting Maven

Here are three tips to be more successful in spite of all the meetings as an in-house lawyer.

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One of the starkest differences between working at a firm and going in-house is the sheer increase of volume in meetings.

When I was at a firm, intraoffice meetings were rare.

As a practical matter, clients didn’t like to pay for intraoffice meetings, so as you could guess, what isn’t billable naturally falls down on the priority list.

As an associate, my days were better spent researching and writing (essentially, billing). As an introvert, I fondly remember full days of hardly talking to anyone at work, lost in investigation, strategy, or persuasion.

Which is why the number of meetings in-house can be very overwhelming at first.

Here’s a reason why it’s different in-house.

The number one way an in-house lawyer is of value to the company is to be available to clients when they have questions and need advice so that they can move their projects forward. If you have a “legal-friendly” culture, this naturally results in in-house lawyers being invited to lots of meetings and conference calls. Even the way we are invited is different.

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When I was at a firm, we would exchange a couple of emails and decide on a time before calendaring. In-house, everyone at the company has visibility to my availability on my Outlook Calendar and can send an invitation to a call or meeting — and if I have not blocked it, it is fair game. Instead of back-and-forth emails regarding availability, clients simply look on your calendar and book a free spot. What this means is that when I look on my calendar today, I may think that I have a free hour to work tomorrow, but tomorrow, when I look on my calendar, it is taken up by a client need. Certainly, I have the ability to decline the meeting or call if needed, but it goes back to my purpose: I am here for clients, and if they need advice to move forward with their projects and work, then they are the priority. Recently, we have moved to Microsoft Teams, which allows people to include you in impromptu meetings, which is fair game if you are not blocked.

Because of the meeting-heavy culture of corporate America, it can easily wreak havoc on your effectiveness as a lawyer.

Here are three tips to be more successful in spite of all the meetings as an in-house lawyer.

Block Off Your Availability To Work

This may seem counterintuitive because it limits your immediate availability to clients, but I have found that if I don’t intentionally block off focus time to actually do the substantive work, I will find myself in back-to-back meetings all day and having to substantively work at night after the kids are asleep.  Examples of what I mean by substantive work: reviewing pleadings from outside counsel, researching client questions, and preparing training or reviewing and responding to client requests.

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Candidly, this doesn’t mean that client “fires” won’t pop up, and you won’t have to move your focus time, but being intentional on the front end is more likely to lead you to success.

A pro-tip — if you can block time before and after every meeting you have to do prework and postwork, it may limit the amount of late-night work you have to do. I don’t always get to do this because it takes a lot of intention and organization, but when I do it, it often results in a less stressful, productive week that doesn’t bleed into home life.

Ask For Prework, If Any

This may seem inefficient. If a client could just send an email, why would they schedule a meeting? But for me, to be a thorough lawyer, I need time to ask questions (as clients only share what they may think is relevant) and I find that having an idea of what the ask is or what the project is about — so that I can do any necessary prework — makes me more effective and helpful during the actual meeting and may lessen the need for follow up meetings or calls.

Another aspect of this is to provide prework to clients, if needed.  Even better, if you can provide a template.  For example, you may be requested to advise on whether an employee should be terminated. To provide that advice, you probably have a standard set of info you want to know. Having a standard email template in your Outlook with those initial questions will help you efficiently provide advice during your call, and also allow you to spend your call on nuances.

Clarify The Ask And Nail Down A Reasonable Deadline

During the meeting, make sure you give time for the client to tell you the background (anew) and provide you all the information they want to share before you start asking questions and advising. I use this time to take notes.  This is so important because I have seen how some lawyers just want to jump into questions and how that can damage the relationship with clients and also chill the information flow. Before the meeting ends, I always like to review with the client what the ask is, what they need from me, and what their deadline is. For the deadline: don’t be afraid to push back if it’s not an emergency. The adage of underpromise and overdeliver still rings true.

While these tips are not a panacea for the sheer volume of meetings we get invited to — hopefully, they will help you be an effective business partner in spite of all the demands on your time.

Happy meetings!

Meyling “Mey” Ly Ortiz is in-house at Toyota Motor North America. Her passions include mentoring, championing belonging, and a personal blog: TheMeybe.com. At home, you can find her doing her best to be a “fun” mom to a toddler and preschooler and chasing her best self on her Peloton. You can follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/meybe/). And you knew this was coming: her opinions are hers alone.

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