Product Counsel: An Exciting New Role In-House

If you’re in need of a new and exciting career opportunity, look no further than product counsel! Product counsel is a relatively new field that is growing in popularity, offering many unique benefits. So, what is product counsel, and how can you become one? Keep reading to find out!

What Is A Product Counsel?

A product counsel is an in-house lawyer who specializes in advising technology companies on the legal aspects of their products. They work closely with a company’s legal and product development teams, giving advice on issues such as intellectual property, access to data, and privacy laws that affect the company’s products and services, as well as advising them on compliance with regulations governing technology products and more.

How To Become A Product Counsel

So, how can you become a product counsel? Below, you’ll find the four main steps.

1. Get a law degree. The first step is to get a law degree from an accredited law school. There are many excellent law schools out there, so do your research and find the one that best suits your needs.

2. Gain experience as a corporate lawyer. Once you have your law degree, you’ll need to gain experience as a corporate lawyer by working in a law firm or as part of an in-house legal department.

3. Specialize in technology law. After gaining experience as a corporate lawyer, it’s time to specialize in technology law. There are many ways to do this, including working at a law firm that specializes in technology law or getting an advanced degree from an accredited institution.

4. Get hired as a product counsel. With your experience and specialized knowledge in technology law, you’re ready to get hired as product counsel! Applying for jobs at technology companies or networking with people in the industry are good ways to do this.

There you have it! Becoming a product counsel is not easy, but it is worth it! The job offers many unique challenges and rewards, and it is a great way to use your legal skills to make a positive impact on the world.

Best Strategies For Product Counsel

To be successful as a product counsel, you need to practice the following strategies.

1. Gain a strong understanding of the product’s tech and business model. To be successful as a product counsel, you must have a strong understanding of both the business model for your company’s product(s) and how it works on a technical level. This will allow you to identify potential legal issues early on and provide helpful advice to the product development team on how to mitigate them.

2. Stay up to date with regulatory changes. As a product counsel, it is your responsibility to stay up to date with regulatory changes that could impact your company’s products (e.g., changes to intellectual property law, data privacy laws, and more).

3. Be a team player! To be successful as a product counsel, you need to work well with others on your team. Working together, you can better identify legal issues before they become problems for the company’s bottom line or reputation.

4. Be persistent and resilient. You need to have persistence and resilience as a product counsel. This means that, when faced with challenges or setbacks, you must keep pushing forward! You may not solve every problem immediately, but there will always be another opportunity for success around the corner if you stay vigilant long enough.

5. Be a strategic thinker. To be successful as a product counsel, you need good critical thinking skills. This includes being able to analyze situations and come up with creative solutions for helping the company avoid legal issues before they arise. It also means knowing when it’s time for litigation or negotiation on behalf of your clients.

6. Be a good communicator! As product counsel, you need to be able to communicate effectively with others, especially people outside of your department or company (like customers). This means being clear and concise when explaining technical information, as well as having empathy for how people may feel about certain issues that could affect them personally.

There you have it! These are some of the best strategies for product counsels. Follow these tips, and you will be on your way to a successful career in this fascinating and challenging field!

For more tips, listen to the recording with Robert Esposito, Senior Legal Counsel, Technology and Product Counsel at Hillspire.

What To Consider Before Becoming A Product Counsel

As a product counsel, you have the important responsibility of protecting the company’s bottom line and reputation. You must be able to identify potential legal issues before they become problems for your organization or its customers.

What do I need to do or consider before becoming a product counsel?

• Ensure that you have a strong understanding of the product’s tech and business model.
• Stay up to date with regulatory changes that could impact your company’s products, such as intellectual property laws, data privacy laws, and more.
• Be a team player!
• Be persistent and resilient when faced with challenges or setbacks, continually pushing forward until you find a solution.
• Be a strategic thinker! You need to be able to analyze situations from multiple angles and come up with creative solutions that will help the company pre-emptively avoid legal issues.

Conclusion

To conclude, product counsel is a fascinating and challenging field. There are many factors to consider before becoming a product counsel, including whether you have a strong understanding of the product’s tech and business model, as this is necessary for staying up to date with regulatory changes.

You will also want to work well with others on your team so that they can identify potential legal issues as well as you can thank to your collaborative skills. Lastly, you need to be persistent and resilient when faced with challenges or setbacks, using your good thinking skills to be a successful strategic thinker.

If you have these attributes, then follow these tips, and you will be on your way to becoming a successful product counsel!

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Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.