In-House Counsel

The Secret To In-House Life: A Gladiator No More

As in-house counsel, you'll need to learn to be more collaborative and less combative.

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I have to admit I loved the television series “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington. Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope was a former lawyer with her own crisis management firm. My favorite Olivia Pope quote was, “You are a gladiator. Gladiators don’t run, they fight, they slay dragons, they wipe off the blood, they stitch up their wounds, and they live to fight another day.” When I was a civil litigator, I wanted nothing more than to be just like Olivia Pope.

When I took my first in-house job, it was a dual role. I was both a civil litigator and an assistant general counsel. As a civil litigator, I was responsible for defending a public agency, the agency’s employees, and the agency’s board before various forums. As an assistant general counsel, I was responsible for providing counsel under the direction of my general counsel. When I started this dual in-house role, I approached it as I had approached my job as a civil litigator. My focus was on winning arguments and securing defense victories.

Collaborative Not Combative

After a few months in my dual role, it became increasingly clear to me that the litigator’s mindset that served me well in courtroom did not serve me well in the boardroom. In fact, I learned very quickly that my whole approach needed a complete overhaul if I was to be successful in my new role. I learned that I needed to spend more time learning about the business of the agency, about how the agency worked, and how I could help the agency become more successful. It was less about achieving courtroom victories and more about learning to support the agency in its effort to succeed in business. If I wanted a seat at the leadership table, I needed to learn to be more collaborative and less combative. I needed to focus on business success.

How Do You Get Your Seat?

You take time to learn the business and your role in it. As in-house counsel, you will need to learn everything possible about the organization you serve.  You will need to understand the organization’s business model, and you will need to learn what the organization needs to do to compete successfully in its chosen industry.

You need to understand your organization’s vision, mission, and its goals. As the in-house counsel, you will also need to be familiar with the organization’s strategic plan. The in-house counsel will need to know how that strategic plan will help the organization bring its vision to fruition, fulfill its mission, and meet its goals. With that understanding, the in-house counsel will be in a better position to determine what the legal department can do to help support these efforts. Defining policies and simplifying legal processes to bring about business efficiencies are just a few ways the legal department can do just that.

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You devote the time to building relationships. The best way to learn the business and establish trust as an in-house counsel is by building strong relationships with senior members of the executive leadership team as well as unit managers within the organization. Not only will you obtain business updates and industry insights, you will be in a better position to determine what role the legal department can play in achieving success for the organization.

Building relationships will also improve your ability to collaborate with executives and managers from various business units within the organization. Through collaboration, you and this team of knowledgeable professionals will be better equipped to address issues that no one person could do alone.  Collaboration done right often produces novel solutions that can result in long-term benefits to the company.

You stop talking like a lawyer. In-house counsels need to learn to communicate like business people. They need to digest complex legal issues and summarize them succinctly and concisely using language with which business people are familiar. There is no need for complicated and archaic legal terms that many counsels often use when speaking and when writing.

You find ways to resolve disputes that do not involve litigation. Litigation is rarely the answer when it comes to solving problems. The benefits of litigation (financial gain) rarely outweigh the costs of litigation (relationships, reputation, and financial expense). It is in the organization’s best interest to resolve disputes as quickly and with as little cost as possible. It is important to determine the root cause of the dispute and do all you can to find a mutually beneficial way for both parties to resolve that dispute before litigation becomes the only option available.

How Do You Keep Your Seat?

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Earning a seat at the leadership table is no small feat. Once you earn that seat, you have to hold on to that seat. How? You continue doing all those things you did to earn it. While it can take a long time to earn that seat, it will take less time to lose it. Leave the courtroom combat to the litigators and focus on being a trusted business advisor who just happens to be a lawyer.

Lisa Lang is an in-house lawyer and thought leader who is passionate about all things in-house.  She has recently launched a website and blog Why This, Not That™ to serve as a resource for in-house lawyers.  You can e-mail her at [email protected], connect with her on LinkedIn, or follow her on Twitter.

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